Author: Aisha Mahmood

The IHT threshold frozen until 2031 is no longer a temporary inconvenience: it is a structural feature of the UK tax landscape, and for unmarried couples with meaningful assets it is forcing a deeply personal question about whether financial necessity should drive them to the altar. The debate has been given fresh energy by Ricky Gervais, who was quoted in the national press saying he was ‘going to have to get married’ to his long-term partner Jane Fallon to avoid a hefty inheritance tax bill.Gervais and Fallon have been together since 1982. In a recent interview, Gervais, estimated to have…

The iPipeline Origo acquisition was completed on 1 September, following clearance from the Mortgage Soup-confirmed Competition and Markets Authority approval, making it the most consequential fintech consolidation in UK wealth technology this week. For advisers and portfolio managers who rely on transfer services and connectivity infrastructure, the question is straightforward: does a larger, more integrated platform reduce operational risk, or simply concentrate it? What the iPipeline Origo Acquisition Means for Advisers By absorbing Origo’s Unipass identity service and its transfer connectivity infrastructure, iPipeline now spans both protection and wealth platforms in a way that few technology providers do. Money Marketing…

The £70m pension fraud for which three men were jailed this week serves as a sobering reminder that the greatest threat to retirement savings is rarely market volatility. Matthew Pickard, 56, Stephen Greenaway, 47, and Paul Laver, 47, were sentenced to a combined 15 years and nine months after running a seven-year investment fraud that stripped more than 3,000 people, many of them pensioners, of their savings.Pickard received the longest sentence at six years. Greenaway was sentenced to five years and three months, and Laver to four years and six months.How the £70m Pension Fraud UnfoldedThe scale of personal enrichment…

The AI threat to financial advisers is not, as Lee Coates argues, a question of whether machines will eventually process information more efficiently than humans. It is a question of what happens to professional value when they already do.Coates, a director at In Accord and the Accord Initiative, makes a case that cuts closer to the bone of financial planning than most technology commentary: knowledge, he says, is becoming a commodity. Understanding is not.When Knowledge Stops Being a DifferentiatorClients can already ask any number of AI systems to explain diversification, sequencing risk, or pension drawdown mechanics. As the technology improves,…

The Vitality AI platform investment of £13.78m sits at the heart of a set of results that show Vitality UK moving decisively into data-driven underwriting, with VitalityHealth reporting a 65% increase in operating profit for the year ended 30 June 2026 and VitalityLife posting growth of 27%. For investors assessing the insurer’s long-term durability, the question is less about this year’s margin and more about whether a behavioural-science model, augmented by artificial intelligence, can sustain those gains across a full economic cycle.Strong premium growth across health and life divisionsVitalityHealth earned premiums of £909m for the year, up 12%, with an…

Brooks Macdonald’s net flow target of 5% annualised growth is achievable, CEO Andrea Montague has told Money Marketing, after the wealth manager returned to positive territory in its 2026 financial year. For long-term investors assessing the stability of discretionary fund managers inside their portfolios, the direction of travel matters as much as any single quarter’s number.Brooks Macdonald Net Flow Target: What the FY26 Numbers ShowThe firm reported net inflows of £226m for the year to 30 June 2026, a swing of more than £600m from the £396m of net outflows recorded in FY25. Flows improved progressively through the year, with…

The Isio Collidr acquisition has reached completion following regulatory approval, with Collidr now operating inside Isio Investment Solutions and its technology powering Isio’s Model Portfolio Service (MPS) across a materially wider distribution footprint. For financial advisers building client portfolios through a managed solution, the combined group represents a larger and more visible MPS proposition, though investors and their advisers should weigh the integration risks that accompany any such merger of investment and technology platforms.What the Isio Collidr acquisition MPS deal brings to advisersThe immediate structural change is one of scale. Isio’s MPS is now available on more than 20 platforms,…

FNZ, the global wealth management platform, has secured US$450 million in new equity from its existing institutional shareholders as part of an FNZ equity funding round that, according to FNZ’s own announcement, totals US$650 million and represents the company’s second cash injection in a single year. The capital will be directed towards FNZ’s technology platform, its people and products, and its stated ambition to return the business to profitable growth.The investors participating in this round are La Caisse, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), Generation Investment Management and Motive Partners. All four are existing institutional shareholders, which signals a…

Budget speculation pension withdrawals are once again threatening to push savers into decisions they may come to regret, AJ Bell has warned, as anxiety over possible tax changes ahead of the forthcoming Budget intensifies among clients and their advisers. The investment platform has highlighted a pattern that proved costly during the run-up to the 2024 Budget: uncertainty over the government’s tax plans prompts savers to withdraw pension tax-free cash early, crystallise capital gains prematurely, or make unaffordable gifts before any changes have actually been confirmed. Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, pointed specifically to the 2024 Budget…