Willoughby says that one of the unintended consequences of RDR in the UK has been the growth in the numbers of people excluded from obtaining affordable financial advice.
He believes the way forward could be for the market to distinguish between “best advice”, which may attract high fees, and “good enough advice” in which advisers would ensure products sold to clients met a basic suitability criteria.
Under this proposal, he says, products sold in this way should carry some form of state-backed consumer protection features, which the client can rely on.
