Mr Ben Goss said two of his company’s clients had scrapped automated advice plans because of concerns about regulatory risk.
“The issue is what is a personal recommendation and what is regulated advice,” he said.
“There is uncertainty about what happens if you risk profile a client. Does that consist of a personal recommendation because you have information about their situation?
“The FCA has tried to clarify this issue, but even with that clarification there are still some big unanswered questions.”
Mr Goss declined to name the firms that judged entering the robo-market to be too risky, but said they were “very large” and their decision was part of a wider issue.
Clarity on focused advice, generally considered the right basis for automated advice services, should form a key part of the results of the Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR), Mr Goss said.
It is expected they will be reported alongside next week’s Budget, Mr Goss said.
It is clear firms want to see greater clarity about how they can use digital in their business.“This area is a very complex issue for the regulator and one which we believe they are currently in the process of addressing. We are all actively working on finding the correct solution for investors,” he said.
Focused advice is not defined in the FCA Handbook, but is commonly used to describe a situation where the client requests that a firm only gives personal recommendations relating to a specific need, designated investment or certain assets.
Mr Goss is not the first fintech chief executive to question the current definitions of advice.
Last year Nick Hungerford, the founder of Nutmeg, said the industry needed to “update its vocabulary to fit with the real world”.
Meanwhile Aegon UK has also stressed the need for clear, intuitive definitions that resonate with customers.
This month the Financial Services Consumer Panel reported that regulatory and common definitions of advice did not coincide, confusing consumers.
Under its Project Innovate, the FCA aims to help firms meet approval for new financial products and services. As of January it had supported 177 businesses with their ideas.
Several firms have said they are considering launching into the robo space. In February, Selectapension said it was planning to launch a robo-advice proposition in the third quarter of this year. Bellpenny has also said it was planning a robo-advice service next quarter.
But few are currently coming to market amid concerns about business risk and ongoing regulatory uncertainty.
In November, the FCA announced it was looking into creating a regulatory sandbox, with support from the Treasury, to allow businesses to test their ideas without danger of enforcement action and without putting consumers at risk.
In its consultation document on the FAMR, the FCA said it was looking at services which went beyond the regulatory definition of advice.
It added that the regulator was interested to hear whether it could build on previous guidance on the boundary between regulated advice services and non-regulated advice, and provide more support to help reduce uncertainty for firms.
An FCA spokesman said: “Through our Innovation Hub we want new and established businesses – both regulated and non-regulated – to be able to introduce innovative financial products and services to the market. In its first year it helped 175 firms.
“Last year we also issued guidance that helps to clarify the different types of retail investment sales models, the boundaries between them and the associated regulatory requirements.”
