Multi-million pound levy and a 6-month Fos delay: the week in news
It's time for the week in news.
1 SJP defends charges
St James's Place defended its charging structure this week after a year at the receiving-end of media and industry scrutiny.
In a quarterly newsletter sent to clients a local partnership under the SJP brand defended its pricing in response to "several articles in The Times this year" which had cast doubt over charges and culture within the business.
The advice firm said: "Considering we believe more in what value we provide for our charge we appreciate sometimes we may not focus on a physical cost, so this point is worth highlighting simply because on cost alone we are largely comparable to anyone else you may have chosen to work with.
"As we are focused on value, we believe that what we provide to clients is excellent value, research supports our belief by discussing value rater than cost alone."
2 FCA victorious in 'extortionate' DB advice claim
The regulator successfully defended itself against an "insistent client" who claimed its rules requiring consumers to seek advice on pension transfers were "unnecessary".
In a complaint escalated to the Complaints Commissioner a consumer argued they did not need advice on a defined benefit transfer and claimed the FCA's rules in the sector would instead leave them "exploited by IFAs for advice".
Under the Pension Schemes Act 2015 anyone seeking to transfer funds worth more than £30,000 out of a defined benefit scheme must seek independent financial advice first.
The consumer claimed they faced "extortionate" rates for pension transfer advice and would struggle to find an adviser willing to execute the transfer on an insistent client basis, but the commissioner ultimately sided with the FCA.
3 FCA eyes advice for mass market
The watchdog said it was looking to create new advice services for mass market consumers with the help of open data this week.
In a paper published on Tuesday (December 17) the FCA backed open finance as a means to giving consumers greater control over their mortgages, investments and pensions.
The regulator said the concept of allowing financial institutions to share data about their client had the potential to deliver "transformative benefits" to consumers and help widen access to advice.
It said open finance could create "new advice and financial support services for mass market consumers making financial decisions, making it easier to share comprehensive information with advisors".
4 Busy year at the ombudsman sees six month case wait
It emerged this week consumers were facing a wait of at least six months at the Financial Ombudsman Service for pension transfer complaints.
A source told FTAdviser it would be half a year before the complaints were allocated to an adjudicator as the ombudsman confirmed it had endured its busiest year in the last half a decade.
The source said the wait times were specifically related to defined benefit transfer cases and warned once a complaint was allocated it could take "many more" months before an initial decision was reached.
5 Advisers face share of £46m interim levy
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme warned advisers this week they will have to pay their share of a £46m interim levy this year in light of rising pension advice claims.
The life-boat fund confirmed there was a high risk the life distribution, pensions and investment intermediation funding class would need to pay an increased levy in this financial year, pointing to "more complex and more expensive" pension claims and a number of high profile investment failures for the additional costs.
The additional £46m includes a contribution from providers in the sector and reflects a jump of £44m in the compensation FSCS expects to pay out this year.
rachel.mortimer@ft.com
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