FTAdviser Podcast

Join us this week as Jenny Davidson, Scottish Widows’ intermediary wealth director, and Holly Mackay, founder and chief executive of Boring Money, discuss the persistent issue of the gender retirement gap and how the industry can continue to tackle it; how simplified advice might help; and what advisers can do to boost client confidence and engagement, with deputy features editor Ima Jackson-Obot.

Is UK financial regulation about to get tougher and faster? In this special edition of FT Adviser Briefing, Amy Austin speaks with Kate Blatchford-Hick, head of consumer investments policy and market analysis at the Financial Conduct Authority about its push to make regulation “faster, sharper and harder to evade”, and what that means for firms, advisers and consumers.As the regulator faces pressure to support economic growth while maintaining oversight, we explore how the FCA is navigating that balance and where it may draw the line. Kate explains the FCA's announcement about ditching the annual review requirement for ongoing advice, turning attention to the trail commission, what advisers and firms should expect from the upcoming changes and how tougher enforcement could reshape the market.00:00 - Welcome to FT Adviser Briefing00:39 - FCA's thinking on simplifying adviser advice03:35 - How will targeted support and simplified advice work alongside one another?04:45 - What products will simplified advice be most useful for?07:10 - How affordable will this be for advisers?10:54 - How the FCA will police the reforms14:08 - Trail commission

FT Adviser senior investment editor David Thorpe chats with Nick Kirrage, global equity manager at Brown Advisory, Hugh Gimber, market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management and Paul O'Neill, chief investment officer at Bentley Reid, about the outlook for US equities after a period of underperformance for the asset class.The panel discussed diversification, the significance of the dollar on equity returns and the implications of AI stocks on the wider market.

In January 2026, the FCA announced the launch of the Mills Review. This is a major consultation examining how advanced AI will reshape retail financial services by 2030 and beyond. But what are the dangers if people get it wrong when it comes to making financial decisions? Joining FT Adviser editor Simoney Kyriakou on this episode of Margin Notes is Greg Davies. He is head of behavioural finance at Oxford Risk, and author of Behavioural Investment Management. This podcast will qualify for 40 minutes CPD and you should be able to explain what the Mills Review aims to do, outline various areas where UK financial services needs to embrace AI, and list some of the potential dangers for financial services providers if they get AI wrong. 

In this episode of the FT Adviser podcast senior investment editor David Thorpe chats with Gerard Lyons, chief economic strategist at Netwealth, Charlie Lloyd, head of investments at Shackleton, and Premier Miton fund manager Gervais Williams, about the outlook for the UK economy and stock market in light of a revised interest rate cycle.

On this episode of the FT Adviser podcast senior reporter Tara O'Connor speaks to workplace culture expert Jenny Segal and Parmenion’s chief customer officer Sarah Lyons about persistent issues with female representation in financial services, why these are hard to shift, and why existing data should not be ignored.

The Treasury published a consultation earlier this month looking to make a number of changes to the AR regime to tighten it up.This included bringing ARs under the Financial Ombudsman Service’s remit for complaints as well as making principal firms hold a special FCA permission in order to appoint an AR.FT Adviser's Amy Austin speaks to Simon Morris, a financial services partner with CMS, and David Mills, financial adviser and founder & chair of Pilot, about whether the changes will have a large effect and what advisers can expect.

In this CPD-qualifying podcast, Roy McLoughlin, member of the Protection Distributors Group, speaks with editor Simoney Kyriakou ahead of Business Protection Focus Week to discuss what to expect from next week’s many initiatives, what to make of the FCA’s latest work in the protection space and what protection could look like in a world of targeted support.

In this episode of the FT Adviser podcast chief reporter Tara O'Connor chats to Oliver Bedford, lead manager on the Hargreave Hale VCT, and Diana French, chief commercial officer of retail distribution at Triple Point, about the impact the chancellor's cuts to VCT income tax relief will have on the industry and clients' financial planning.