Tisa will begin a trial of portable fact finds shortly after entering into talks with the Financial Conduct Authority about the issue.
The industry group has 35 firms onboard for the trial, with another 14 having expressed interest in taking part.
The trial was originally intended to be on digital IDs to allow people to manage their finances more easily.
But it has been expanded at the FCA’s request after the regulator published guidance in April on the implementation of the Financial Advice Market Review, in which it said a portable fact find could be more convenient and cost-effective for clients and help them switch from one adviser to another.
Charles McCready, director at Tisa, said while it had ruled out setting standards for a set fact find the regulator has asked the group of providers "to look at portable fact finds."
Mr McCready said: “The FCA was really interested in making that an electronic process so we will be running a pilot to find out whether the digital ID can get people into a portable fact find which will request information from the underlying firms.
“We will be starting that in the next two months.”
Mr McCready said the pilot currently includes banks, building societies, asset managers and an IFA front office.
Separately, the FCA has said it was working with 24 firms in the first cohort of its sandbox and a spokesman for the regulator said it has not yet revealed who will be in the second cohort, but will do so "in due course".
Its sandbox programme is part of the FCA's Project Innovate, which aims to address the regulatory barriers which prevent firms from innovating in the interests of consumers.
The FCA has previously said it is keen on the idea of “porting” a fact find from one adviser to another.
It is about so much more than the hard data. It is about the little things that clients say.Peter MatthewLast month a consultation from the regulator revealed it had explored the process of carrying out a fact find and the “portability” of this information from one adviser to another.
The FCA has said that standardisation could most easily be achieved on the “objective” information provided in a fact find, such as a client’s name, address or job.
And it said that this element of the fact find is already broadly standardised across the market.
The regulator said: “The remaining information, however, is more qualitative. This includes information such as the client’s level of knowledge, previous investment experience, and attitude to risk.
“The qualitative information may present greater challenges in terms of standardisation, because the manner in which this is collected is generally determined by firms’ methodology for assessing the qualitative information.”
It has therefore proposed that it will not publish a standardised fact find proforma.
Peter Matthew, managing director of Cornwall-based Jacksons Wealth Management, said the idea of a portable fact find risked underestimating the purpose of producing this document.
He said: “It is about so much more than the hard data. It is about the little things that clients say that the best advisers will be able to pick up on.
“The format is largely irrelevant and by imposing a fact find you are imposing a way of working which might be sub-optimal.”
He added that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for clients to have to redo a fact find because their circumstances might change.
The FCA did not respond to a request for a comment on plans to introduce a portable fact find.
damian.fantato@ft.com
