Taking care of the carers

The UK's ageing population means that quality of financial advice for older people is under the spotlight. There is an upsurge of government interest in this area, and back in May, Gordon Brown pledged to reform the social care system for England's ageing population. In addition to the ongoing headlines about pensions, equity release scare stories appear in the national press with increasingly regularity. Meanwhile, representative groups are calling for better financial information for the over-60s.

The regulator is at it too. In April this year, the FSA called for IFAs offering focused "advice in a particular area of expertise" to gain "even higher minimum specialist qualifications" in its interim RDR report. Specialist advisers and practitioners are also keen to establish better ways of providing clear differentiators.

Financial decision-making for older people is an area where it is particularly vital to "get it right first time", and research studies suggest that many older people are sceptical about financial advisers because of past problems. But unless they have a network of financially-savvy contacts, how do older people find a financial adviser they can trust?

Last month, the Financial Services Skills Council launched the Later Life Adviser Accreditation Scheme. This new standard has been created especially for financial advisers working with older clients. It helps identify advisers with empathetic skills and enables them to understand the issues relating to older clients. It then provides these advisers with the appropriate frameworks they need to meet their clients' needs.

Who should apply? The Later Life Adviser Accreditation is awarded to individual advisers in recognition of demonstrating best practice, appropriate knowledge and client care procedures. It builds on existing skills and develops knowledge gained through previous study and workplace experience. It gives independent recognition of knowledge and advice skills which will help older consumers and their families identify potential advisers.

The LLAA has been specifically developed to help identify those who:

• relate well to their older clients;

• understand the specific issues relating to older clients; and

• give them appropriate advice to meet their needs.

The scheme was developed by the FSSC in collaboration with SVARfair, following recommendations from a working party that we convened together to consider how best to provide a form of recognition for consumers.

The development of an appropriate Accreditation Scheme has been supported by a variety of companies that are active in the older client market, and the steering group also included a representative from Age Concern. A proportion of the initial development costs of the FSSC's Later Life Adviser Accreditation Scheme were paid by the FSA, who have expressed their support for this scheme.

The scheme has also been supported by the industry, our primary sponsor Just Retirement Limited and our other development sponsor Partnership Assurance.