The Financial Conduct Authority’s Advice/Guidance Boundary review discussion paper is proposing a potentially seismic shift in the level and nature of financial support available to the mass market. The last big shift was the Retail Distribution Review, enacted after decades of mis-selling scandals, which significantly reduced the appetite of financial services firms to provide these services. This has been characterised as an ‘advice gap’ but is a savings and investments crisis. While RDR undeniably raised the quality of advice, it did so at the expense of also raising the cost, leaving advice as a wealth-focused product, effectively killing the mass-market investment market. The implications for not only individuals but also society at large, to avoid mass retirement poverty, sluggish capital markets and lost wealth creation, is that something needs addressing increasingly urgently.
This whitepaper includes polling data carried out from March to April 2024, into the industry’s reaction to the Advice Guidance Boundary Review proposals across 32 life companies, advisors & wealth managers, platforms & technology providers, and banks & personal savings providers.
