By Steve Conley | Academy of Life Planning | June 2025
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it will accelerate consultation on its much-debated reforms to the advice-guidance boundary, citing “excellent engagement” from major financial institutions. But while banks, platforms, and product providers have had front-row seats to shape these changes, one glaring question remains:
Where was the consultation with consumer champions?
A One-Sided Conversation
Twelve product providers – including St. James’s Place, Vanguard, and Hargreaves Lansdown – participated in a six-week policy sprint to test “targeted support” solutions. The aim? To encourage consumers holding more than £10,000 in cash to invest it – not necessarily in the right product, but in their product.
The FCA is now planning a shorter-than-usual consultation period and seems determined to fast-track these reforms with the backing of government. The reforms fit neatly within the Treasury’s growth agenda. But they do so at the expense of balanced oversight and consumer-first policymaking.
What Is “Targeted Support”?
“Targeted support” is a newly coined middle ground. It allows regulated firms to recommend actions or products to consumers based on characteristics of similar groups – without breaching the line into regulated advice.
What’s missing? A suitability requirement. A personalised financial plan. And a pathway to redress should the outcome be poor.
A Return to Product Pushing?
Let’s not forget: it was precisely this kind of product-first, commission-driven culture that the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) was designed to eliminate. Yet here we are again. Financial firms will be free to “recommend” their own products – without knowing the consumer, their needs, or their broader financial picture.
No personalisation. No fiduciary duty. No complaints allowed if things go wrong.
If this isn’t regulated advice without the regulation, what is?
What About FOS?
Even providers are nervous. Mark Fitzpatrick, CEO of St. James’s Place, has warned that unless the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is clear and aligned with the FCA, firms may be deterred by the looming threat of post-sale complaints.
This concern is valid. But it highlights something deeper: the entire framework appears to be built for the provider’s convenience, not the consumer’s confidence.
The Silent Stakeholder: The Public
The FCA proudly touts “excellent engagement” – but only from industry. There’s been no equivalent consultation with independent consumer groups, financial reformers, or pro-consumer organisations.
Why not?
The regulator’s role is to protect the consumer, not just to grease the wheels of market expansion. Yet in this case, it seems the City’s voice has once again been prioritised over the citizen’s.
An Alternative Vision
There is a better way.
Empower consumers with education, transparent tools, and independent, product-free guidance. Support them to plan their lives before planning their money. And ensure that any solution involving financial product recommendations includes:
- Full transparency
- Clear accountability
- Right to recourse
That’s what real support looks like.
Final Word
The FCA’s reforms may be welcomed by the product pushers of the City. But without public participation, safeguards, or redress mechanisms, this model risks re-opening the door to systemic mis-selling and consumer harm on an industrial scale.
We do not need a return to a system where products are sold, not planned. We need a system where people come first.
If the FCA truly wants to serve the public, it must consult the public – not just the providers.
Steve Conley
Founder, Academy of Life Planning
🌍 Empowering people to become their own financial planners
📩 steve.conley@aolp.co.uk | 💻 www.aolp.info
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