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
Speaking to discretionary investment managers on almost a daily basis about due diligence matters I often hear the anguished rejoinder, ‘and advisers insist on having us complete their questionnaire rather than taking our standard due diligence pack.’ I am never sure whether insisting that the standard pack is sufficient is a matter of arrogance on
“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