PIMFA Comments on FCA’s plan to tackle investment harm

15 September 2021

PIMFA Comments on FCA’s plan to tackle investment harm

Responding to the strategy, PIMFA CEO Liz Field said:

“We welcome the publication of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Investment strategy. It is vital that retail consumers are provided with the confidence that they need to participate in retail markets.  In taking this work forward, the FCA needs to be clear in its expectations of firms by providing them with the direction that they need to innovate and serve different segments of the market.

“While we applaud the direction of travel set out in this strategy and its ambition, the FCA’s proposals for consumer redress and PII simply do not go far enough. Ultimately, the unsustainable rises in FSCS levies and significant hardening of the PII market are the result of complex drivers ranging from poor firm behaviour through to inadequate supervisory oversight. However, it is not clear to us how these can be adequately addressed by commitments to work more closely with industry as the strategy sets out. The FCA needs to be significantly more ambitious in setting out a supervisory approach in which harm is identified and acted on quicker before it is able to manifest itself in the market which will, in turn, lead to fewer failures and as a result, increase confidence in the sector ranging from consumers to underwriters.

“To their credit, we believe they are moving in the right direction, but there is much more on this to be done.”

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About PIMFA – the Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association

• PIMFA is the trade association for firms that provide investment management, investment services and advice to everyone from individuals and families to charities, pension funds, trusts and companies.
• The sector currently looks after £1.65 trillion in private savings and investments and employs over 63,000 people.
• PIMFA represents both full and associate member firms. Full members provide a range of financial solutions including financial advice, portfolio management, as well as investment and execution services. They assist everyone from individuals and families, to charities and pension funds, all the way to trusts and companies.  Associate members provide professional services to the PIMFA community.
• PIMFA leads the debate on policy and regulatory recommendations to ensure that the UK remains a global centre of excellence in the wealth management, investment advice and financial planning arena. Our mission is to create an optimal operating environment so that its member firms can focus on delivering the best service to clients, providing responsible stewardship for their long-term savings and investments.
• PIMFA has made numerous recommendations to the FCA regarding the Future of Advice, the Future of Supervision, & the FSCS levy – read more.
• PIMFA was created in 2017 as the outcome of a merger between the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) and the Wealth Management Association (WMA) with a history as a trade association since 1991 – read more.
• Further information can be found at pimfa.co.uk

Contact

For further information on this release or other press matters please contact:

Matthew West, PIMFA PR Manager – MatthewW@pimfa.co.uk, +44 (0)20 7382 0376

Sheena Gillett, PIMFA Communications & PR Director – SheenaG@pimfa.co.uk / +44 (0)7979 493225