FeesJan 11 2017

Letter to the Editor: We've come a long way, but have further to go

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
Letter to the Editor: We've come a long way, but have further to go

After 45 years in the financial services business a strange feeling has sneaked up on me. I am almost proud of what we do for the consumer.

Efficient product providers supply solutions and tools to enable us to deliver excellent advice rather than product peddling. We have bravely coped with avalanches of compliance which in the end has given us the professionalism we craved.

There may be some who overcharge on fees but the consumer is given the choice, unlike the pre-RDR days of commission which excluded the person who actually paid for everything.  

The cost of delivering appropriate and individual outcomes has never been cheaper - we are at last good value for money. The only cloud in an otherwise sunny sky for the consumer are the charges for fund management.

The FCA has at last, as has the popular press, woken up to the unfair way in which management fees are levied.

It would not be untypical for an insurance company with an individual fund size of £3bn to charge 1 per cent AMC. Surely it does not cost £3m, given this computer and algorithm-laden industry, to run just one fund.

I am sure that these very profitable operations would argue otherwise but I would be for a flat fee and a benchmark-related performance fee. If the FCA and the media continued to pursue this new crusade then we will have very interesting days ahead.

Gary Pashley

Director

GLD Associates

Cardiff