The UK’s targeted support framework is now in place, aimed at widening access to financial advice.
It is a sensible move – but at least 30 years too late. From an international perspective, it is not new.
In many expatriate markets, advisers have been working this way for years — not because regulation required it, but because clients prefer it.
Most clients do not want a full fact-find at the first meeting. They do not want to disclose everything on day one. They want to understand who they are dealing with. They want to build confidence first. Trust comes before detail.
So the relationship develops in stages. A conversation starts the process. Advice builds over time. Seen like this, targeted support is not a new model. It is a recognition of what already works.
The UK, as expected, will move slowly. As noted by Jen Frost, editor of Professional Adviser, the early take-up has been limited. That is typical of a market shaped by process and caution.
At the same time, there is optimism. Others have suggested it could become a gamechanger.
It may well be – but there is a more direct point. If advice is too difficult to access, clients will not engage. And one of the main reasons is cost.
Many clients are not prepared to pay a fee at the outset, particularly before they know or trust the adviser. Faced with that choice, they simply do nothing. That is the reality. There is also a perception that needs to be addressed.
Much has been made over the years of commission-driven advice, often characterised as product-led or misaligned.
In reality, the motivation is often far simpler. Advisers are paid when clients take action. Clients benefit when those actions help them move towards their financial objectives.
When it works properly, it is not a conflict. It is alignment. A more gradual approach changes the dynamic. It allows a relationship to begin without a heavy process or immediate cost. Trust develops. Advice follows.
There is also a business angle.
Firms built on staged relationships often have stronger, more consistent client bases. From an acquisition perspective, that matters. Less reliance on a single upfront process. Lower risk of inconsistency. Fewer issues appearing later.
That makes the business easier to understand – and often more valuable.
None of this is complicated. Clients want a simple way to start. Advisers need a way to engage them.
Finally, one cannot help but reflect on the language itself. Only a regulator could come up with a term like targeted support.
In reality, this is something much simpler – making financial advice accessible to the person in the street, without them feeling they have to learn a new language just to engage with it. And perhaps that is the real shift.
Brian Harrison Spence is founding partner at HSP Consulting, advises on IFA businesses, including consolidation, succession and valuations
