The pension reforms have empowered people to take control of savings but the industry must make sure consumers make best use of the changes, Mark Hoban has said.
The MP, who once told advisers their qualifications were no better than getting a degree with McDonald’s, has called on financial advisers to help deliver the government’s Budget changes.
The Conservative MP for Fareham, who stepped down from the cabinet in October 2013, told an audience at the Chartered Insurance Institute in London last week: “It is now for the industry to decide whether to take up this challenge and look to the future with confidence, or shy away from these opportunities and risk repeating the mistakes of the past.”
Mr Hoban presented his ideas on how advisers can help consumers navigate the new landscape in the aftermath of the Budget reforms.
He said: “I believe the financial services sector must take the opportunity presented by the government’s reforms to restore trust.
“Insurers, banks, asset managers and employers need to think about their offer to the newly empowered savers and retirees.
“They need to build on the guidance guarantee to give consumers the support they need to make the most of these reforms.”
The former financial secretary to the Treasury said a key component of the reforms was the government’s guidance guarantee.
He said: “It will play a key role in raising people’s awareness of the decisions they will need to take at retirement. It will signpost people to other sources of help, to assist them make the next decision – it might be to an IFA or it might be to Money Advice Service or the Citizens Advice Bureau.”
In 2010, Mr Hoban had earned the ire of advisers by refusing to bow to pressure to delay the implementation of the RDR, which brought in higher standards of qualifications for advisers.
At the time, he told parliament during a debate that the current minimum qualification level of IFAs could be likened to that of a shift worker in McDonald’s.
Adviser view
Simon Mansell, managing director of Worcester-based Temple Bar Financial Advice, said: “I look at this with great suspicion. Mr Hoban originally was the great white hope for IFAs – that there would be a chance he would see the light in terms of the RDR but he became deaf to our concerns. Whether this is a deaf man who has recovered his hearing remains to be seen.”
