In response to the FCA’s Rory Percival’s comments about the RDR having been necessary (FTAdviser.com, 21 October), what a sad state of affairs when the regulatory mouthpiece feels that on the whole financial advisers may not have done, or would not do, the best for their clients.
In my opinion, RDR was put into place for the providers. Commissions had to go as the providers were haemorrhaging after the stakeholder debacle, and with auto-enrolment on the horizon, this was the only way forward.
Pre-RDR, Joe Employee could contact us – the way corporate schemes were structured allowed for this. Now poor Joe has to pay, so invariably for him, it’s a less informed outcome, and in the worst instances may lead to an investment in Asian woodland. Even for a small practice such as ours, a couple of thousand employees are now on the wrong side of the ever-widening advice gap.
Edward Thomson
Director,
Liberty Bishop Financial Services,
Luton,
Bedfordshire
