A ‘watershed moment’
30th November 2022 09:25
by Jemma Jackson from interactive investor
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interactive investor CEO Richard Wilson comments on FCA proposals to make financial advice more accessible.
As part of its consumer investment strategy, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out new proposals to help address the advice gap. The regulator is consulting on making advice more straightforward, easier to deliver and understand, and less costly, with qualification requirements for the new regime ‘more proportionate.’
The proposals intend to create a separate, simplified financial advice regime for certain mainstream investments within stocks and shares ISAs.
Richard Wilson, CEO, interactive investor, says: “This is a watershed moment in the UK. It will determine whether we can begin to change the narrative around long-term financial well-being. Get it right and the financial services industry can find simple solutions that break down barriers to advice and crucially, reduce the advice gap. What we need is simple solutions, with clear pathways that don’t make people feel anxious – solutions that are easy enough that people will actually do it.
“Financial advice currently centres around complex suitability homework, which gets in the way of finding simple, affordable solutions. This is joined-up, right way round thinking from the regulator. It’s a big deal.”
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