Passives not immune
It is expected that advisers who recommend mostly passive strategies may face less of a headache, but they still have some concerns.
Plan Money director Peter Chadborn says: “We have broad concerns for the reputation of the industry of which we are part. It can all seem a little “grubby” as consultancy The Lang Cat put it.
“Even being mostly passive in our investment selections, we are not immune. For example, there is a lot of discussion around the Vanguard Life Strategy range and some of the costs related to it. We will be conducting a little review exercise just to ensure that any newly available information is taken into account in our processes and thinking.”
Chadborn adds it will also be considering whether it needs to adjust client communications on charges, even though he adds it has always sought to be as “transparent as possible” and doesn’t expect to be delivering any “shocking news”.
“Indeed, medium term, it should help us and our clients gain a better understanding of what fund managers are doing,” he says.
“It looks likely to affect the active folk the most, because that is where the greater anomalies appear to be. We have had no pushback from clients yet because it is not on the consumer radar. We are confident our costs are very low and competitive by comparison to the market norms for platforms, funds and ongoing adviser charges so, we are well placed to deal with any flack.”
