Field notes for modern advice firms.
Plain-English guidance on FCA compliance, AI and client data, suitability, and running (or selling) a practice, from the team building the wealth management operating system.
Compliance
What Is Targeted Support? The FCA's 2026 Regime Explained for Advice Firms
Targeted Support went live on 6 April 2026. Learn what it is, how it differs from advice, the rules firms must meet, and how to deliver it at scale.
Consumer Duty for Financial Advisers: A Practical Compliance Guide (2026)
A plain-English guide to the FCA Consumer Duty for advice firms: the four outcomes, the cross-cutting rules, board reports, and how to evidence good outcomes.
COBS 9A Explained: The Suitability Rules Every Adviser Must Meet
COBS 9A sets the FCA suitability rules for MiFID investment advice. Learn what it covers, the three pillars of suitability, and what a compliant report needs.
SMCR for Financial Advice Firms: A Practical Compliance Guide
A clear guide to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime for FCA-regulated advice firms: the three pillars, firm categories, and what you must maintain.
AI and GDPR for Financial Advisers: Using Client Data Lawfully
Using AI with client data? Learn the UK GDPR rules advisers must meet: lawful basis, special category data, DPIAs, automated decisions, and processor contracts.
Identifying and Supporting Vulnerable Clients: An FCA-Aligned Guide (2026)
How advice firms identify and support vulnerable customers under FCA guidance and the Consumer Duty: the four drivers of vulnerability and how to evidence outcomes.
Consumer Duty Compliance Technology: What Software Can and Can't Do
There's no such thing as Consumer Duty software. What technology can genuinely evidence, where firms' evidence breaks, and the questions to ask a vendor.
Technology
Data Security for AI in Financial Advice: What Firms Must Check
Before adopting AI, advice firms must vet data security. A practical checklist covering hosting, encryption, model training, access controls, and vendor due diligence.
AI Paraplanning: Can AI Replace Paraplanners in 2026?
Can AI do paraplanning? What AI can and can't do in the suitability workflow, where human judgement stays essential, and how firms use AI to boost capacity.
Financial Adviser CRM & Client Management Software: Do You Need One and How to Choose
Do financial advisers need a CRM? What adviser client management software does, the features that matter for UK firms, and how to choose the right system.
AI Tools for UK Financial Advisers in 2026: What to Look For and Where They Help
A practical guide to AI tools for UK financial advisers: the categories that matter, where AI helps most in the advice workflow, and how to choose safely.
The Best Single Platform for Running a Financial Advice Firm in 2026
No vendor runs your whole firm. What a single platform should own, when consolidating beats best of breed, and how to move an IFA firm to one system.
The Best AI Paraplanner Tools in 2026: How to Compare Them Properly
No AI tool replaces a paraplanner. The 4 categories of AI paraplanning software, what automated report writing produces, and a 10 point buying checklist.
Wealth Management Automation: What to Automate, and What to Never Automate
Automate what produces a draft, never what produces a decision. The 5 rungs of the automation ladder, where advice firms save time, and how to keep your audit trail.
Intelliflo and Iress Alternatives: Do You Need a New Back Office, or a Layer on Top?
Most firms hunting an Intelliflo or Iress alternative don't need a new back office. What the alternatives are, what switching costs, and how to decide.
The Best Software for Small IFA Firms: The 4 Things You Need and the Order to Buy Them
Count your logins. The shortest workable software stack for a small UK advice firm, what to buy first, what to defer, and how to test it on a real case.
Moving From Several Tools to One Platform: What Breaks, and How to Stop It
Client records aren't what breaks a stack consolidation. How to inventory what you hold, decide what's authoritative, migrate in phases and keep the audit trail whole.
Voice AI in Financial Services: What It's Good For, and What It Creates
Record a client meeting and you've created a record you have to keep and produce on request. Where voice AI earns its place in an advice firm, and where it doesn't.
AI Financial Adviser Software vs ChatGPT: Where a General Assistant Stops
ChatGPT will write you a suitability report. That's the problem. What a general assistant is genuinely good for in an advice firm, and the 5 things it can't do.
68% of Advisory Firms Now Use AI. The Real Question Is What's Next
Adoption is an input, not an outcome. The number that decides who your firm can afford to serve is the cost to serve 1 client for 1 year. Here is how to read it.
Practice management
Decumulation Advice: Building a Defensible Retirement Income Suitability Case
How to build a defensible retirement income suitability case: sustainability, sequencing risk, capacity for loss in decumulation, cash flow modelling and ongoing reviews.
How to Write a Suitability Report (and How AI Is Changing It)
A step-by-step guide to writing a compliant, client-friendly suitability report, the required sections, common mistakes, and how AI is changing the process.
Retaining Clients Through the Great Wealth Transfer: A Guide for Advice Firms
Most heirs leave their parents' adviser after inheriting. Learn why the great wealth transfer threatens advice firms and the strategies that keep the next generation.
Dividend Tax Planning in 2026: What the £500 Allowance Means for Your Clients
The dividend allowance is £500 and dividend tax rates rose 2% from April 2026. What it means for clients with equity income, and the planning levers that still work.
Selling Your IFA Business: How to Lift Your Valuation Before You Exit
Planning to sell your IFA firm? Learn how UK advice businesses are valued and the practical levers, recurring revenue, adviser dependency, compliance, that lift price.
How to Scale an IFA Firm Without Hiring: Where the Capacity Comes From
You can't scale an advice firm by working later. Where the recoverable hours sit, how to add capacity without headcount, and when you should hire anyway.
Suitability Report Automation: Which Sections a Machine Should Draft, and Which It Must Not
A 90% right draft is more dangerous than a bad one. Which sections of a suitability report a machine can safely draft, which it must never write, and how to review one.
How to Choose an Advice Platform: Running a Selection You Won't Regret
Most software selections are decided in the first demo. Write the criteria before you watch anything, test on a real case, and ask the questions vendors expect to dodge.