Often people are coming to investment advisers with their life savings, trusting them to make that money grow and counting on them to provide an adequate income in retirement. The conversations clients have with their investment advisers involve life decisions and often play a pivotal role in their future – the decision whether or not to purchase an annuity, for example, can have life-changing consequences.
That’s why investment advice is so important and why the FSA thinks it is essential that people have confidence and trust in the help and advice of these experts.
With the RDR deadline less than five months away, it’s time to embrace the changes that both regulators and industry have worked so hard to achieve
The end of this year will bring the biggest change to the retail investment advice market in decades. Most advisers are well on their way to being ready for these changes. Looking beyond the retail advice market, we have seen more and more product providers launching clean share classes, which strip out commission paid to the adviser and the charge for a platform. These RDR compliant share classes of roughly 0.75 per cent, instead of the bundled annual management charge of 1.5 per cent, offer good value to clients and allow advisers to deliver a cost-effective solution that maximises the client’s ultimate return on investment.
Concurrently some platforms are ahead of the curve in charging their customers directly on a monthly or annual basis for the service provided.
Unsuitable products
The FSA is largely agnostic about what kinds of products investors should invest in – with the notable exception of those products which should never be sold to the vast majority of retail investors, like unregulated collective investment schemes (Ucis). Ultimately the FSA wants investors to be in the products that are right for them.
When it comes to making a personal recommendation for a client, it all comes down to suitability: if a client’s needs, circumstances and attitude to risk suggest that a higher risk strategy would work for them, then advisers should feel free to pursue this, provided they avoid pitfalls such as excessively concentrated holdings and can clearly evidence that this is the best option for the customer.
