Financial advisers have criticised the Financial Advice Market Review’s (FAMR’s) recommendations on how better use of technology, in particular automated services, can improve access to advice.
The FAMR final report, published on 14 March, recommended that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) set up a team to offer support to firms using automated advice and guidance business models.
It also suggested not everyone wanted or needed a personal recommendation for every decision, which some advisers have suggested could be dangerous.
Andrew Moore, director of Devon-based Goodmans Financial Planning, said implementing automated models “misses the point” for making advice more cost-effective, suggesting the report was ignoring demand for financial advice and increasing competition for the DIY market instead.
He added: “I think this review is an embarrassment. It makes no recommendations whatsoever for something that would increase the supply of advice.”
Adam Carolan, a chartered financial planner at Cheshire-based Xentum, said there was “no real information” in the report. His firm developed its own technology-based advice system, and he said it was not the regulator’s job to help firms develop automated models.
Meanwhile, Alastair Rush, founder of robo-advice service Fiver a Day, said: “The report is a huge validation, maybe not of the value of robo advice, but certainly of the need for the facilitation of more advice which robo-advice can provide.”
Adviser View
Alan Mellor, managing director of Cheshire-based Phillip Bates & Co Financial Services, said the FCA’s intervention was for the big participants such as banks and investment managers.
He added: “Automated advice is hugely expensive to kick off, and the big players are the ones that will benefit from that if it can be made to work.”
katherine.denham@ft.com
