Earlier this month, Sesame Bankhall Group confirmed market speculation that the Sesame network will be removing the option for authorised representatives to be independent and revealed that plans are under way to launch a second restricted proposition alongside its existing panel-based option.
Mr Carne said: “The independent bar is set too high: there are not enough resources to research every product in the market every time we give advice. The actions of [Sesame Bankhall] show that there aren’t.”
As an example of the excessive expectations, Mr Carne said there are currently 128 self invested personal pensions providers in the market and “to expect due diligence on all of this is just unreasonable”.
Mr Carne said: “I have no argument over clarity but I’m not sure if significant numbers of firms have taken [guidance] this on board. A lot are hoping for the best – to creep under the radar or this definition should be relaxed at some point.”
Last week, Personal Touch Financial Services also launched a restricted panel and platform propositions for its 45 member firms who offer pension and investment advice.
