PIMFA Learning: Consumer Duty Series – Session 2: Engaging with Third Parties

With fundamental regulatory change like the introduction of the Consumer Duty, the problem for firms both large and small often isn’t with planning – many strategies are well developed – but with execution. The Consumer Duty series tackles the implementation of Consumer Duty head-on to provide PIMFA member firms with a well-structured approach for Project Leads, Compliance & Risk Heads alongside Senior Managers to confidently meet the July deadline.

You will return from each of the three sessions with a set of tools and approaches you can use to:

• • Improve your ability to organise, manage, and prioritise the key requirements of the Duty
  • Anticipate and avoid pitfalls that could derail your project plan.
  • Respond to FCA’s latest announcements and instructions.
  • Address your firm’s most critical Consumer Duty issues.
  • Feedback and answers to your Consumer Duty execution challenges

Session Two: Engaging with Third Parties

PIMFA member firms are relying significantly on their third parties to transmit quality information, particularly relating to the consumer support outcome.  Firms need to give detailed thought to the type, timing and volume of information they need from their third-party service providers to test consumer outcomes.

Furthermore, manufacturers and distributors are required to share information required by each for monitoring outcomes. While augmentation of existing templates may be helpful, these are unlikely to meet all firms’ requirements.

This session (that you can attend in person or online) will focus on:

• • Engagement strategies with third-party suppliers to access information to monitor customer outcomes.
  • The additional information you may need to share between manufacturers and distributors, and what is the most efficient way to achieve this.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• • Know what’s an appropriate level of detail you will require from product providers.
  • Recognise the pitfalls of relying on PROD and COLL for meeting the Consumer Duty Products and Services and Fair Value outcomes.
  • Learn how large and small firms are effectively and efficiently gaining the information they need from their third-party suppliers.
  • Address information flow challenges, exploring with peers how to optimise information flow between manufacturers and distributors.

Format and approach

You can choose to attend this two-hour session in person at the PwC London office or online. However you choose to participate, this session is run as an interactive learning experience that brings the research and experience of the PwC Wealth Management team together with senior managers who want to strengthen their firms’ approach to Consumer Duty implementation. In this online workshop, you will be broken into smaller discussion groups to work through exercises, discuss scenarios and collaborate with your peers on solutions to overcome even your most challenging execution obstacles.