I am writing in response to the comment by Emma Hughes about the potential return of commission (FTAdviser, 15 January).
The problem with the removal of commission is that it addressed a consumerist mantra rather than the needs of consumers.
How was it possible to get these confused?
Nobody at the regulator asked the public what they wanted. No one at the regulator bothered to consider the advice gap that was widely predicted and has now manifested. Indeed, one very senior person at the then-FSA boldly claimed that the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) would reduce the cost of advice. Either he was being misleading or he really was that incompetent.
The RDR is a classic example of ‘command economy’ economics. For the uninitiated, the Soviet command economy resulted in one factory making boots for the left foot and another making boots for the right foot, but in alternate years.
What it really needs is for journalists to launch an investigation into the regulator. One that will eventually lead to a public inquiry. Then we will get down to an explanation as to how so much money could be spent achieving so little.
John Morris
Managing director,
The Harvest Partnership,
Bromley,
Kent
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