“A safe harbour product of the kind described in this report may not be any more achievable than a perpetual motion machine.
“The products available today are largely fit for purpose already. The challenge is rather to make sure that investors are helped to engage at a level which works for them and to make good decisions, even if that is simply to buy an annuity.”
KEY FACTS
Labour-funded report stated “simplest solution” involves only three routes:
• execution-only – the customer makes all the decisions (‘I want to do it myself’).
• ‘financial help’ – the customer is helped or steered towards tailored options using a decision tree, but this is currently classified as advice (‘help me do it’).
• personal recommendation or full regulated advice (‘do it for me’)
ruth.gillbe@ft.com
