The Retail Distribution Review (RDR) and the Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR) aim to improve consumer outcomes from financial advice and guidance. We are reviewing their impact on the market to date, and assessing how the market may develop in the future in this Call for input.
Our focus will be on how consumers engage in the market and whether the industry delivers what consumers want and need. We also want to assess future trends that may have an impact on the future need and availability of services to consumers.
The RDR was launched by our predecessor, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), in 2006 with most of the rules it introduced taking effect in 2012.
The aim of the RDR was to establish a more resilient, effective and attractive retail investment market that consumers had confidence in and trusted. It made several significant changes to the way investment products are distributed to retail consumers in the UK. The RDR raised the minimum level of adviser qualifications, changed the way charges and services were disclosed to consumers, and banned the use of commission to pay for advice. In 2014, we published the first phase of the post-implementation review of the RDR.
FAMR was launched jointly with HM Treasury in 2015 and built on the work of the RDR. The objective of FAMR was to identify ways to make the UK’s financial advice market work better for consumers. The review had a wide scope and looked across the entire financial services market to assess the accessibility of advice and guidance to help people with their financial decision-making.
FAMR’s final report in 2016 included a series of recommendations for FCA, HM Treasury and other organisations. In June 2017, we published a baseline set of market indicators which serve as a benchmark against which we can track changes in the advice and guidance market over time.
This Call for Input will be of interest to:
We want to know what you think are the issues we should consider and what evidence you think is relevant to our review.
Please send us your feedback by 3 June 2019 using our online form or write to:
Retail Distribution Policy
Strategy & Competition
Financial Conduct Authority
12 Endeavour Square
London E20 1JN
Email: [email protected]
Your responses will inform our review and the additional research we will carry out during 2019.
We expect to publish our conclusions in 2020.