Mar. 1--At long last, the ineffectual Financial Services Authority has taken some tough, pro-consumer action. It has written to all providers of single-premium payment protection insurance, which is taken out with loans, asking them to withdraw it from sale no later than May 29, 2009.

For years, Financial Mail has highlighted the robbery that is single-premium PPI. It is outrageously expensive, it is often sold to borrowers without them even knowing that they have bought it and it is lumped on to the loan, incurring interest charges from day one.

And of course, when there is a claim, it is usually rejected.

The FSA's belated action is a classic case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Most financial services companies, including Alliance & Leicester, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland, had already announced they were " voluntarily" withdrawing from singlepremium PPI sales.

And of course, the belated move by the FSA will not help any of those customers who have become the unfortunate victims of PPI mis-selling and who are now seeing their complaints being stonewalled by providers. But when it comes to the out-of-touch FSA, perhaps we should be grateful for such small mercies.

FADS have always blighted the reputation of retail investment funds. We saw it with the aggressive promotion of high-risk technology funds in the late Nineties, only for the bubble to explode, causing misery to millions of investors.

And in the past three years, we have seen it with commercial property. Amid collapsing property prices, many funds have had to put a stop on withdrawals, to the consternation of nervous investors.

The latest fad is corporate bonds, as my colleague Stephen Womack reports on the previous page. Some of the top discount brokers are fiercely promoting the virtues of these bonds without drawing full attention to the risks involved.

Though corporate bonds may have a role to play in a balanced portfolio, they are not the be all and end all.

So, don't fall for the smooth talk of the discount brokers. A far more advantageous option is to seek out a fee-charging financial planner who, not under the influence of commission (see our report on Pages 58-59), will assess whether corporate bonds could have a role to play in your portfolio.

INVESTOR confidence is plunging according to the Great British Investor report, published last week by pollster YouGov and conducted on behalf of the Investment Management Association.