This week on AdviserSoftware.com we launched a new service to help advisers make better decisions about technology. Our Adviser Tech Ratings enable users of systems to share their views on the software they use and help other advisers understand the strengths and areas for improvement in different systems. Advisers can also identify what additional features they would most like individual suppliers to add. You do need to be registered with our site to use this feature but, otherwise, it is free for advisers.

You can share your views on the software you use here. I would really appreciate it if as many advisers as possible could take the time to share their thoughts.

Also this week we looked at EVPro Risk, the latest risk profiling solution from EValue. This has been built as an end-to-end financial planning tool, to help advisers assess, build, stress-test, review and solve clients’ plans from within the one solution.

Our next Adviser Tech Forum will explore “Getting advisers client data, what currently works, what doesn’t and where are the places to improve.” Click on this link to organise your ticket.

Monday was self-assessment deadline day, so we thought it would be a good idea to begin the week on Protection Guru looking at income protection and specifically non-financially underwritten plans. Having just finalised their income this will be a great time for advisers to be reviewing Income Protection with their self-employed clients, hence understanding some of the specialist solutions on the market we hope will be helpful.

On Tuesday Rob turned his attention to critical illness cover, specifically how useful is total permanent disability benefit?

Added-value benefits are regularly discussed within the industry and increasingly play a central role alongside the core cover of a protection plan. On Wednesday Rob published a detailed analysis of all of the fracture cover options on the market and how each insurer compares. This is very timely after the introduction of Aegon’s new option last week, click the link above to find out how Aegon and the rest of the market compare.

Continuing with the theme of support benefits and coinciding with Time to Talk Day, a mental health awareness campaign run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, on Thursday Rob looked at what mental health support do protection providers offer?

On Tuesday and Thursday, we also published parts 3 and 4 of the content from our January Protection Forum. These covered how the FCA’s consumer duty will be applied and the value of electronic GP reports. Both these issues are really important, so if you were not at the meeting, I would urge everyone to listen to these or read the transcript over the weekend

As Friday 4th is World Cancer we finished the week with a look at everything you need to know about Cancer and Critical Illness policies, this pulls together studies we have produced on different forms of cancer. Reading this is a really great way to prepare for enquiries that might be stimulated by media coverage.

Next Tuesday we will be holding our next Protection Forum to explore the crucial issue of how the Protection Industry can produce clearer communications, This will, of course, be crucial under the new FCA consumer duty which will be introduced later in the year. Click here to request our ticket.

This week on Benefits Guru we posted a two-part insight looking at the Pension Wise service. This is a guidance service offered by the Government, which is designed to help workplace and personal pension savers over the age of 50 make sense of their choices for retirement.

Our latest two-part insight article explores what Pension Wise offers, which providers signpost the service, and what new proposals are on the horizon.

Part One – Wednesday

Part Two – Thursday

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I will be hoping and praying Spurs get a result against Brighton at White Hart Lane. This one is a win-win for Spurs fans if we don’t win it will just add to the clamor for #LevyOut, #LewisOut and #EnicOut. Every cloud has a silver lining.