The Pensions Regulator issued 166 penalty notices to firms breaking auto-enrolment regulations in the final quarter of 2014, an increase from just three fines in the previous quarter.

10 years. It doesn’t sound like a particularly long time in the bigger scale of things and for people involved in planning long-term finances it isn’t. But when it comes to doing business in the 21st century, it’s a timeframe that can see you go from hero to zero unless you are plugged into the enormous leaps that are taking place with technology and how it is shaping and changing the world.

A passionate debate in our office recently has been around when the technology advisers use to interact with customers (the front office system, if you like) will become more important than the practice management systems that have historically been the adviser’s core operational hub.