‘Making our industry fit for the future involves negotiating changes to legislation’

We have considerable reach up and down the country to all types of personal investors. Consequently, when we as an industry speak with one voice, the government and regulator cannot ignore what we say.

There are always conversations to be had with policymakers and regulators, and there is always a need to move forward, innovate and to stay focused on building an industry fit for the future. This is why it is vital to support any campaign that helps promote our industry and it is why Pimfa is lending its support to FTAdviser’s Promote Your Profession campaign. 

Making our industry fit for the future involves negotiating changes to legislation and regulation with the government and Financial Conduct Authority. But it also means looking at what we can do to make improvements, promote our sector as a great place to work, a force for good and ensure that we are doing all we can to serve our clients in the best way possible.

There are many ways in which our industry speaking with one, unified voice has achieved reform. In the past year alone, we have won meaningful concessions from the FCA on the Financial Services Compensation Scheme levy, including the regulator publicly conceding that the levy is unsustainably high and that a new funding model is required.

Making our industry fit for the future involves negotiating changes to legislation and regulation with the government and FCA. But it also means looking at what we can do to make improvements

We are continuing to work with the FCA on what that might look like and you will have seen our calls for FCA fines to be used to subsidise the levy. This fits with our call for a polluter pays model, at least in the short term, while a longer-term solution is developed in partnership with the industry.

Pimfa, along with 17 other trade associations, charities and consumer groups including UK Finance and Which?, has also won concessions from the government in terms of the online safety bill, which was introduced to the House of Commons in March 2022 and included fraud as a stated priority as a direct result of our campaigning work with our partners.

The online safety bill is continuing its progress through parliament and should become law before the end of the year, helping to protect millions of our clients from fraud. 

Last year, the FCA banned companies “phoenixing” into claims management companies, an issue Pimfa has campaigned on for a number of years. The FCA also agreed to lengthen the timeframe for implementation of the consumer duty as a direct result of Pimfa’s campaign work, whilst we have been providing information to firms to help them prepare in advance of the implementation deadline.

Mini-bonds were brought inside the regulatory perimeter in 2022 following several years of campaigning by Pimfa. We also put forward proposals for a Simplified Advice regime, which prompted the FCA to consider its own proposals for a core investment advice regime and we were pleased to see the 10 per cent depreciation rule repealed following our representations to the regulator. 

Finally, the packaged retail investment and insurance products regime was also repealed as part of the government’s Edinburgh reforms, something Pimfa has campaigned for since its introduction six years ago. We have already put forward proposals to replace it with a simplified disclosure regime.

Pimfa was the only trade association to give evidence to MPs at the House of Commons public accounts committee investigating the British Steel Pension Scheme scandal, while we also gave evidence to MPs scrutinising the online safety bill, demonstrating the impact of the work we have undertaken in the past few years and the seriousness with which policymakers take our views.

But we, as an industry, must take a lead in driving change too. This is why Pimfa launched the WealthTech platform last year as part of an ongoing commitment to drive digital innovation in the wealth management industry.

We look forward to working with FTAdviser’s new campaign and continuing to speak with the one collective voice that we know from experience achieves the change we want to see

Then, as part of our initiative to promote our industry as a great place to work, we launched our Make.It campaign to improve diversity and inclusion in the industry, providing companies with a recruitment pack to help them attract new talent into the sector. This after we had already launched our Diversity and Inclusion awards to help highlight the great work already being undertaken by the industry.

But there is always more we can all be doing to get support from the government and our regulator, which is why we are happy to support FTAdviser’s new campaign. We look forward to working with the campaign and continuing to speak with the one collective voice that we know from experience achieves the change we want to see. 

I would encourage all companies to get involved and also to come and speak to the Pimfa team. We are here to help you and to fight for the things you need. That way, you can concentrate on doing what you do best: serving your clients. 

Liz Field is chief executive at Pimfa