As the FCA’s suitability work continues, Chris Jones reminds advisers of their obligations to inform themselves and make informed recommendations You will often hear about the need to undertake research and due diligence on the products and services you recommend to clients, but what does that mean in practice? Specifically, is undertaking research the same
“Agent as client” or agent for the client?
Last Thursday the PFS published a very detailed guide written by consultancy Diminimis on the potential issues arising from the “agent as client” basis on which some discretionary and MPS services are run. Many advisers will be on top of this but, for those who aren’t, the potential consequences are significant… Under the agent as
What is “due diligence?” Lessons from the Berkeley Burke case
Working in a regulated industry, the importance of “due diligence” is drummed into us. The FCA regard research and due diligence as core requirements to ensuring suitability, and that poor research and due diligence can lead to poor customer outcomes (TR16/1). So you might assume that “due diligence” is a clearly defined requirement of the
Assessing suitability: Research and due diligence of products and services
Advisers know that suitability lies at the heart of good advice – identifying the client’s real needs and then identifying the best solutions. And identifying those best solutions requires good market knowledge, based on research and underpinned by due diligence to ensure that the solutions will deliver as expected. So what comprises appropriate research and
DD|hub – the new approach to discretionary manager due diligence
“Due diligence is a real pain,” they told us (and we heard it repeatedly), “it takes so long and ties up so much effort.” The “they” who told us this were both discretionary investment managers and financial advisers, so it was clear there was a problem. When advisers are looking at selecting a discretionary investment