UK Wealth managers are adopting a wait-and-see
approach to the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), as uncertainty
over the future of the Financial Services Authority casts a shadow
over the initiative.
Ben Blackett-Ord, CEO of Bovill, a
financial services regulation consultancy, said some wealth
managers are stalling action on RDR because they are
unsure of the form the FSA will take following a general
election, expected in May.
Go deeper with GlobalData
“Potentially, that is the case,” added Rebecca
Thorpe, a principal at the firm.
“There will be lots of examples of wait-and-see before the May
[election] date before starting big, expensive internal projects on
that sort of thing.”
Three quarters of UK wealth managers believe
the Financial Services Authority’s Retail Distribution Review (RDR)
regulation will impact their businesses, according to recent
research.
At a roundtable organised by Scorpio
Partnership, the wealth consultancy, participants from multi-family
offices and private banks said they were concerned about their
ability to meet certain requirements of the legislation. RDR, which
aims for wide-reaching reform of the market for financial advice in
the UK, calls for all advisers to be trained to the equivalent of
level four on the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)
scale by 2012. This is equivalent to the first year level of a
university course.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataWealth management executives voiced concerns
over their ability to become compliant in time for the deadline,
and also over the costs of running programmes at the necessary
scale. As well as paying for training, firms will be hit by lost
income from time advisers spend out of the office.
They criticised the Financial Services
Authority (FSA) for a lack of dialogue and felt regulation was
being forced upon them, even though key elements of it were not
entirely relevant to their business models.
“Wealth managers are increasingly concerned
about their ability to meet the training requirements of the RDR
within the proposed timeframe,” said Catherine Tillotson, managing
partner at Scorpio Partnership.
A policy paper outlining the next steps for RDR, focusing on
adviser fees and service labels, is due out by the end of
March
