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In an open letter, Simon Mansell, IFA and managing director of Temple Bar, is asking the Conservative leader David Cameron how he intends to earn the IFA community vote, after it recently promised to develop the financial services industry.

In a recent speech at the Association of British Insurers (ABI) conference, shadow chancellor George Osborne said a Conservative government "wants independent financial advice services" and said he hoped its proposals would encourage the country to move from debt to savings, which would open up "all sorts of opportunities for the sector to talk to people about how they can best save".

But Mansell is questioning whether the Tories will prevent the Financial Services Authority (FSA) from implementing the RDR - a reform widely mooted to threaten the number of IFAs working in the profession. (See related article.)

"By 2012, the FSA reform could leave as many as 2 million clients without an adviser, as calculated by Ernst & Young, who say that 10,000 IFA firms will leave the industry, leaving the banks to mop up.

"So it not just the IFA vote you need to be concerned about Mr Cameron, it's 2 million of their clients left to the mercy of the banks, the main beneficiaries of RDR.

He added: "I remain sceptical of the Conservative fence sitting position in support of independent advice.

"It's all well and good to try and pick up votes when the shadow chancellor, claimed that the Conservative Party's economic policies would present a big opportunity for the IFA sector, a sector that will be as dead as the Dodo if the FSA have their way."