The Advice Guidance Boundary Review aims to improve consumer access to financial support.
We published our policy statement[1] setting out the near-final rules for targeted support on 11 December 2025. The FCA Board decided to confirm the near-final rules as final on 26 February 2026. Read the final rules (PDF)[2] and the accompanying Handbook Notice (PDF)[3].
Our pre-application support service (PASS)[4] is available to firms planning to apply for a targeted support permission. Firms can request a pre-application meeting via the PASS section of Connect[5].
We are now accepting applications for targeted support permissions via Connect[5].
Objectives of our work
The Advice Guidance Boundary Review is a response to a growing concern that most consumers in the UK are not getting the financial help they need. The review is a joint initiative between His Majesty’s Treasury and the FCA, to examine the regulatory boundary between financial advice and other forms of support.
Targeted support forms a key part of our review. We want to help consumers navigate their financial lives and make effective, timely and informed decisions about their pensions and retail investments, while ensuring they have the protection that comes from engaging with an authorised firm, rather than friends, family and social media. We will also consult on simplifying our advice rules in early 2026.
Targeted support
Targeted support allows firms to offer suggestions to groups of customers with common characteristics. Millions more people could get help navigating their financial lives with support on pensions and investments. For example, a firm could suggest an alternative sustainable withdrawal rate to a consumer drawing down on their pension unsustainably, or it could suggest that a consumer invests their money in an ISA if they are holding excess cash in their account.
Targeted support introduces a new set of conduct standards, which, alongside the Consumer Duty, provide consumer protections.
We want consumers to have access to different types of support to meet a range of needs. These reforms should set the framework for the next 20 to 30 years, to support consumers now as well as future generations.
Firms can apply for the targeted support permission via Connect[6].
Simplified advice
Some consumers will want assurance that a product or suggestion is suitable for their specific individual needs and circumstances. This is where simplified advice can help.
Simplified advice can complement targeted support where a customer has straightforward needs and provide a stepping stone to more complex or holistic advice. We have set out plans to simplify our advice rules, including to set out more clearly the flexibility that already exists to provide more focused, simplified forms of advice as well as advice that is comprehensive and holistic.
We want to see a thriving and trusted market for different forms of advice, targeted support and guidance. This supports our ambition that consumers should have access to the help they need, at a cost they can afford, when they need it.
Apply for targeted support permission
Firms will need to apply for permission to conduct the proposed targeted support 'new specified activity'.
You can now submit applications via Connect in accordance with the authorisations process.
Pre-application support service
To help firms prepare, we have extended our pre-application support service (PASS)[4] to firms planning to apply for targeted support permission.
PASS is a free, voluntary support service for firms before they formally apply for regulatory permissions.
If you're intending to apply for permission to offer targeted support, we recommend requesting a PASS meeting as it gives firms the chance to engage directly with a cross-organisational team, discuss their specific proposals, ask questions, and receive constructive feedback before submitting any formal application. This helps firms prepare high-quality applications and often facilitates faster assessments and decisions. Feedback indicates these discussions are proving useful.
Consultations and policy development
In December 2023, DP23/5[2] opened discussion about how we could better ensure people have access to the right support to navigate complicated financial decisions.
In December 2024, we consulted on targeted support for pensions in CP24/27[3]. In June 2025, we consulted on the regulatory framework for targeted support in pensions and retail investments in CP25/17[1]. This included our direction of travel on simplified advice and clarifying the Advice Guidance Boundary.
In September 2025, we consulted on consequential handbook changes following the CP25/17 proposals in CP25/26[4]. In November 2025 we consulted on our proposals for targeted support fees and levies in CP25/33[5].
To help support our policy development, we commissioned consumer research[6] to test targeted support with consumers. We have also published other supporting research:
- Reading between the lines: understanding of targeted support in retail investments[7]
- Reading between the lines: understanding of targeted support in pensions[8]
- Bridging the advice gap: Estimating the relationship between financial advice and wealth[9]
We have published near-final rules on targeted support[13]. Alongside this, we have issued joint statements with the Information Commissioner’s Office[9] and the Financial Ombudsman[10] which set out:
- How firms can communicate with their customers to explain targeted support services.
- How the FCA and Financial Ombudsman Service will work together in the event of future complaints relating to targeted support.
We also welcome the Government’s announcement to take forward secondary legislation to enable workplace pension providers to deliver targeted support communications to members who have not opted out of direct marketing. This will further support the rollout of targeted support to pension savers.
Next steps
We expect the targeted support rules to take effect from 6 April 2026.
We plan to consult on simplifying and consolidating our investment advice rules and guidance in early 2026.
