Informed Choice executive director Nick Bamford looks at the new paper on Adviser Charging from JP Morgan and explains why consumers always pay for financial advice.

It is rarely surprising when we hear that independent financial advisers (IFAs) are placed at the top of the list of financial services firms when it comes to ‘trust’.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published a consultation paper (CP11/08: Data Collection: Retail Mediation Activities Return and complaints data) making proposals for more robust data collection from authorised firms.

We look at the future delivery of financial advice following news that Standard Life is cutting its Private Client Division and the provision of face-to-face advice.

Informed Choice will be sharing with the world a day in the life of the business on Tuesday 24th May 2011 by tweeting everything we do throughout the working day.

In this blog, Informed Choice chartered financial planner Martin Bamford explains why the Investment Trust debate is not about commission and describes the three reasons why IFAs tend not to recommend closed-end funds.

As we continue moving towards the new financial services regulations being introduced at the end of next year, many advisers are working through a ‘gap filling’ exercise.

Which? Money published a good explanation of the new regulations for financial advisers in their magazine this month and Informed Choice chartered financial planner Martin Bamford was pleased to have contributed to their research for the article.

As the UK economy continues its febrile recovery, we wanted to provide an update on how our business has responded to forthcoming regulatory change and our recent period of growth.

The Banks have lost their judicial review into FSA guidelines for calculating compensation payments on mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Norwich & Peterborough Building Society (N&P) £1.4m for failing to give its customers suitable advice in relation to the sale of Keydata products.

The FSA has issued a warning today about an unregulated equity release plan called Crossroads, from a company called Asset Income Plan Ltd.

The Independent Commission on Banking has recommended that UK banks should have their retail banking operations ‘ring-fenced’ from riskier investment banking.

Today sees the launch of The Money Advice Service, which replaces the Consumer Financial Education Body (CFEB).

March 2011 was a record month for our website in terms of visitor traffic, with 4,768 people dropping in. Here are the five most popular blogs from March 2011.

The latest firm-level complaints data from the FSA makes interesting reading and should form part of the due diligence process for a savvy investor.

New research from Plimsoll Publishing suggests that around one-third of IFA firms are making an ‘unsustainable’ loss as a result of ever increasing costs.

Informed Choice has been named a Constant Contact All Star for our use of email marketing practices during 2010.

We explain what ‘independent’ really means in the context of financial advice and how this will change when new regulations are introduced on 31st December 2012.

There is a risk that some investors in Keydata will become victims of fraud a second time after the Keydata Victims Group warns bogus callers are targeting these investors.