Tenet’s Mike O’Brien has said 2017 is the year talk about regulatory change needs to be turned into action.
The company’s group regulatory director said 2016 had laid the foundations for change but next year would need to be the time when this talk is translated into rules.
He said: “Whilst there has been some tinkering around the edges with certain recommendations in the Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR), the fundamental issues still need to be resolved.
“Chief amongst these is the cost of regulation, where there is genuine concern that it is a major factor in many consumers being priced out of the advice market.
“The real work still lies ahead. So far, progress on Financial Advice Market Review has been restricted to the low hanging fruit, but it must find a way to tackle the disconnect between the FCA, Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which continues to undermine so many advisory activities.”
Mr O’Brien said that during 2017 the effects of Brexit would become more tangible said he expressed doubt that it would make a difference to Tenet’s activities.
He said that while there was an initial effect following the referendum, this was reversed fairly promptly.
Mr O’Brien said: “It did precipitate a quiet period on the investment front, with very little activity in the June, July and August aftermath as investors refused to panic and sat on their hands.
“Things have reverted back to normal now though and year-on-year productivity levels are encouragingly higher when compared to 2015.”
Following the introduction of pension freedoms, Mr O’Brien said that during 2016 Tenet saw a four-fold rise in the number of defined benefit transfers.
He said: “We have seen a modest increase in insistent clients, but nothing like what was feared and mainly driven by the record high transfer values.”
damian.fantato@ft.com
