adviser firms

In the second part of this An Audience With, John Ritchie looks at key service indicators, why Ellipse are publishing them and what it means for advisers.

In addition to its website redesign, LV= has also switched its adviser telephone services to Freephone numbers, and appointments for its teleinterview service can now be made online.

Gavin Shay, head of partnership development at AXA PPP healthcare, looks at the role healthcare can play in an adviser's portfolio.

Patrick McIntosh, the financial adviser who trekked to the South Pole after repeatedly beating cancer, has been appointed the first ambassador for Seven Families.

National independent advisory business Wren Sterling has reached an agreement with Darlington Building Society to offer in-branch financial planning services to the group's customers.

OneFamily, the brand for the combined Engage Mutual and Family Investments business, has called on advisers to help direct families to financial support they may be entitled to.

Towers Watson has merged with insurance broker Willis Group in an $18bn (£11.4bn) deal to create a wide-ranging global advisory, broking, and solutions provider.

Network Openwork is to divide its distribution business into three specialist distribution units for wealth, mortgages and protection.

Over two thirds (69%) of advisers gain less than a quarter of their income from protection, while 9% get over half their income from protection, research from Aviva has found.

Intrinsic Financial Services has launched a new protection panel for its restricted advisers with immediate effect.