The policy director at the Association of Professional Financial Advisers encouraged advisers to respond to the FCA’s consultation on fees, making the case that the template budget is disproportionate in representing the advice market’s risks.
He said: “We do not believe that the current allocation properly reflects the risks that the advice sector presents or the FCA’s own assessment of risk as reflected in its business plan.
“Furthermore, the FCA must take account of the reduced number of advisers and that continued increases in fees for advisers are unsustainable. We want the FCA to reconsider how it has allocated its costs.”
He added that advisers’ share of the bill was higher than that of life companies and mortgage lenders and did not tally with the FCA’s main focuses. Apfa has provided a template response that advisers can use on its website.
Adviser view
Lee Fisher, director of Lancashire-based Burton and Fisher Financial Services, said: “This is coming at a bad time for advisers post-RDR and the requirements for capital adequacy, solvency and so forth are making life difficult. This is a highly regulated and expensive industry to work in now – we’re getting squeezed from every regulatory direction.”
Background
Advisory firms will be charged fees that are 13 per cent higher than in 2012/13, under the proposed guidelines. Regulatory charges would make up almost 10 per cent of the FCA budget. The rises have been attributed to increased staff, IT and support costs. The consultation can be found on the FCA website and the deadline for responses is 9 June.
