The FCA is nudging advisers to specialise in serving clients, leaving investment management to the DFMs. But new partnerships are blurring the edges. And very few have a clear understanding of where responsibilities lie, particularly when it comes to suitability. This has the potential to be a huge headache.
For example, in the strictest sense, there is no such thing as outsourcing for advisers, just a variation of responsibilities. Every adviser needs to document this. Just accepting a DFM’s standard terms of business is no longer enough to prove due diligence.
But what if every advisory firm creates and insists on its own terms of business? This would be a nightmare for DFMs, across new and existing adviser relationships.
Brian Spence
Managing Partner
Harrison Spence
London
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