There is nothing like poor investment markets (and, sadly, under-performing asset managers) to focus the minds of investors, financial advisers and the broader financial services industry.
Add to this the imminent introduction of legislation (the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act), which, for the first time, will properly protect consumers, and we have a whole new ball game that favours us, the consumer.
Two weeks ago, I wrote about the conventional wisdoms in the financial services industry which are used to provide us with advice on a one-size-fits-all basis. I pointed out that the conventional wisdom may not be appropriate in every case.
I said it was time the industry provided advisers with tools that would enable them to do proper calculations to establish the appropriate advice and products in each individual case.
A number of financial adviser networks (companies and organisations that provide support to independent financial advisers) and financial product companies have since contacted me, saying they have either developed such computer-based tools or are developing them.
One of the first companies through my door was Fairbairn Capital, the division of Old Mutual that caters to the upper end of the market. Fairbairn Capital has clearly been working for some time to deal with the issues I raised. I am not saying it is the only company doing so, but being the first one through my door earns a pat on the back.
Fairbairn Capital has made a lot of progress in constructing a better way of enabling you to make the correct investment decisions, and then providing an improved range of products to meet your needs.
One of my major criticisms of the way living annuities were mis-sold was that investors received very little advice about how the volatility in investment markets (particularly share markets) has a high-risk impact on a pension.
Instead, pensioners were shown graphs which depicted the average annual growth of equity markets over many years. This illustration is fine if you are still building up capital. But if you are drawing an income (of between five and 20 percent) based on the capital invested, a sudden one-year drop in markets - while you maintain the same income level - can have disastrous long-term effects. This risk was seldom pointed out.
Combine this with poor asset management and failing to stick to the rules of diversification (many people put all their money into foreign markets before the rand strengthened and world markets crashed) and you can understand why many investors have incurred massive losses.
One outstanding thing Fairbairn Capital is now doing is explaining in a lot more detail the volatility risk in all asset classes.
Among other things, it has introduced a tool which enables you to see exactly how much money you have in each asset class. This is particularly important, because different asset classes perform differently over different time periods.
For example, compared to cash investments, share markets have a greater propensity to rise and fall violently in the short term, but to provide superior, inflation-beating returns over longer periods.
Many of today's investment products are made up of numerous underlying investments. At a glance, you cannot really tell how much money you have in each asset class. The result is that you could be more heavily weighted in one asset class than you realise, and be exposed to a higher level of risk than you can accept.
Fairbairn Capital has broken away from the industry tradition of dividing investments into those with capital guarantees and those without. It has added a new range of "defensive" investment portfolios, which limit downside risk, but allow you to take advantage of market upturns.
It does not matter whether financial services companies are motivated by angry, disappointed investors, imminent legislation or genuine concern for investors. What does matter is that, for the first time, we are starting to see products and tools being developed that have a greater potential to enhance our wealth.