By Steve Conley, Founder, Academy of Life Planning
The FCA’s Consumer Duty is reshaping financial services, prompting firms to reassess the value and suitability of their ongoing service propositions. What we’re witnessing is a healthy shift: providers proactively contacting clients to adjust or even downgrade services they’re not using—before the regulator forces their hand. It’s a move towards fairness, transparency, and client-centricity, and it’s long overdue.
At the Academy of Life Planning, this shift aligns closely with our core philosophy. We believe that 90% of people, 90% of the time, can manage their own finances with the right support—and we’ve designed two distinct propositions to make that possible.
1. Planning My Life – Done-By-You / Done-With-You
For just £19 per month, under our Planning My Life brand, clients gain access to a powerful suite of tools and support that empowers them to take charge of their own financial futures:
- End-user financial planning software integrated with Open Banking
- A comprehensive financial activation library and scorecards
- An AI planner assistant for intelligent guidance
- Unlimited human email support—bottomless and responsive
This approach puts control where it belongs: with the individual. It’s ideal for times of financial stability, when clients simply need nudges, not hand-holding. It’s also highly scalable, low-cost, and in full alignment with Consumer Duty principles: appropriate, proportionate, and of demonstrable value.
2. Financial Life Coach – Done-For-You
However, life isn’t always stable. In times of stress or transition, clients often require more intensive, human-centred support. That’s where our Financial Life Coach service steps in—offering holistic, one-to-one wealth planning designed to navigate complexity and restore clarity.
Clients may opt into this service temporarily—during a career change, bereavement, inheritance, or other major life event—and once the situation settles, they can return to Planning My Life and continue their journey independently. Where appropriate, we also offer enhanced tools like Voyant or Deposit Sense, and optional annual review meetings for tracking progress.
A Flexible, Ethical Model for the Modern Client
We’ve built our model around flexibility and fairness. Clients can dial services up or down as their lives evolve, with no pressure, no commissions, and no opaque fees. It’s a transparent ecosystem that mirrors the way people actually live—and it removes the friction (and cost) of one-size-fits-all service.
This is particularly important given that 63% of clients have under £200,000 in assets (Dynamic Planner), and many are underserved by traditional models that depend on asset-based fees or rigid annual review schedules.
Consumer Duty in Action
We commend firms like American Express for initiating service downgrades where customers aren’t using their benefits. It’s a small but significant example of consumer duty applied with integrity. Similarly, financial advisers must now ask: are we offering value? Or are we charging for services no longer needed?
At the Academy, we’ve answered that question by putting choice in the client’s hands. We offer value when it’s needed, not just when it’s scheduled.
A Call to the Profession
As models continue to evolve, the future belongs to those willing to segment thoughtfully, leverage technology ethically, and respect client autonomy. There’s room in this profession for full-service, tech-led, and hybrid models alike—but all must share a common thread: meaningful, proportionate value that meets clients where they are.
The Academy of Life Planning is proud to be at the forefront of that transformation.
Your Money or Your Life
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By Steve Conley. Available on Amazon. Visit www.steve.conley.co.uk to find out more.
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