Earnings season is coming to a close and what a close it’s been. Just today we’ve seen many companies post their full year earnings and the first wave of COVID impacts can start to be seen in the numbers. Small business loan platform Prospa’s losses widened, Afterpay saw a spike in users but is still chasing its maiden profit. The market is as unpredictable as ever.

Here’s what happened this week:

1. Buy now, pay later company Afterpay halved its annual net loss to $19.8m, in a year where heavy investment in geographical expansion saw active customers more than double. More here.

2. Women are the deciders – A new study from Merrill Lynch Wealth shows Married women 45 and younger are twice as likely as older married women to make the financial decisions in their families. More here.

3. Supporting clients through COVID – there’s a great piece by HPH Solutions on how they’ve moved their firm online during these times, build deeper relationships with existing clients and build the practice. “The COVID-19 pandemic has almost been a perfect storm for financial planners. Those that didn’t have a planner were looking for advice and those that had a planner were questioning if they had the right planner to guide them through this event.” More here.

4. COVID-19 is accelerating the adoption of technology across the whole-of-wealth industry, but even before the global pandemic hit there were already systemic changes underway and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) makes a strong case for that in this insightful 32-page report,The Future of Wealth Management – A CEO Agenda”.

5. The future of wealth management is a combination of strong relationships and technology – it’s something Chris Ridd discusses in his weekly blog here.