According to the survey, a majority (54%) of the advisors polled have expressed that the deadline should be delayed. Justifying their stance they said there was a lack of clarity around the rules and regulation.
An even greater percentage (69%) of the advisors polled said that the FSA would definitely enforce the RDR rules on both the new charging model and qualifications in January 2013.
Go deeper with GlobalData
40% of the advisors said they are not certain whether that they would have adopted the advisor charging model by then.
On the question of attaining the QCA Level 4 qualification in time, a third said they are not sure if they would comply with that on time. However, there was a 20% increase in the number of advisors who said they will have attained the qualification in time as compared with last year’s survey.
James Endersby, managing director of Opinium Research, said, "The research clearly indicates that IFAs are finding the new charging model harder to implement under current circumstances, than acquiring the Level 4 qualification."
Another reason given by the poll respondents for the delay in both acquiring the necessary qualification and implementing the new model can be due to the uncertainty of FSA action which has been called into question by the failed attempt of the Treasury select committee to delay RDR implementation by a year.
"Our findings therefore indicate that the FSA still has much more to do to persuade the market that change is coming on 1 January 2012. With the deadline firmly in our sights, it seems advisors have a busy 2012 ahead," Endersby added.
