There have been reincarnations all over the place this week. The deservedly respected Ian Shipway has ‘gone home’ to Simon Chamberlain’s Succession group, the never-dull former TMP’s Richard Craven has surfaced with plans to set up a new national IFA and in the most shocking split since Jordan ‘n’ Pete, pensions ‘pop star’ Steve Bee will be leaving Scottish Life and joining Paradigm to set up an adviser platform business.

How much was there on IFA platforms in the UK as at 30 Sep 09? Which platforms rule the roost and who is growing the most quickly? What do IFAs think about platforms? Take a look at this Preview Issue of our new platform research, available free of charge to all Platforum subscribers (you'll need to log in to see it) . Let us know what you think - we hope you find it useful.

By Harry Kerr, Director, Avalon Investment Services

Lehman’s, RBS, Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingley, AIG et al….large companies are not lower risk. And so with Wraps, what type of different risks might arise? The fabled term “known knowns” and “unknown unknowns” has been manifest in the credit crunch, while in contrast that overused conventional term “Financial Strength” is today rather elusive and less meaningful- it’s not size that counts.

We are putting together a small, focussed seminar for 50 invited delegates on the above topic - the agenda is available for download on our Events page and below. Please sign in to view this.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Rob De Dominicis, CEO, GBST
• Andrew Lloyd, Director, Logica
• Katharine Photiou, Principal, Mercer
• Mike Sullivan, President, PMI
• Steve Bee, Managing Pensions Partner, Paradigm
• Phil Hollingdale, CEO, Staffcare
• Tony Wickenden, CEO, Technical Connection