Financial Advisers’ Burden of Excellence: Navigating Client Demands and Regulatory Pressures in the UK

The financial advice sector in the UK is undergoing significant transformation, presenting both challenges and opportunities for modern advisory practices. As trusted partners to over 4,000 financial advice firms, FE fundinfo has identified key market drivers that are currently reshaping the industry.

Consumer Duty Regulations 

The FCA's new Consumer Duty rules have raised the bar for client care. Advisers must now demonstrate they are acting in their clients' best interests with unprecedented transparency. This shift demands robust processes and comprehensive data to support every recommendation. 

Retirement Income Advice Under the Microscope 

With the FCA's ongoing thematic review of retirement planning advice, advisers need access to accurate, up-to-date data more than ever. Our database of 103,000+ active funds and direct-from-source MPS data from 85+ providers ensures advisers can make informed decisions when crafting retirement strategies. 

The Rise of Model Portfolio Solutions (MPS)

The growing popularity of MPS has transformed investment strategies. As pioneers in MPS data collection and dissemination, FE fundinfo provides advisers with the tools needed to accurately compare and assess these solutions. 

Heightened Focus on Value Demonstration 

In an increasingly competitive market, advisers must clearly articulate and prove their value. With over 300,000 portfolios and instruments to browse and compare, FE Analytics provides all the data and analysis tools needed to provide a robust and valuable advice process. 

How financial advisers feel the effects of market trends

Market moves have created an environment that presents significant challenges for advisers. For instance, the ever-changing regulatory landscape hinders growth potential by requiring substantial resource allocation to scan for changes and adjust reporting accordingly. As a result, many firms choose to outsource regulatory monitoring so they can remain more focused on core business activities.

With accuracy and data security as a key priority, many firms struggle to reconcile data across multiple systems and siloed functions.

We’ve heard many advisers struggle to keep clients engaged in the financial planning process and effectively communicate complex information. Managing a diverse client base while maintaining profitability and service quality remains a persistent challenge.

Furthermore, with advisers dedicating over a quarter of their working week to administrative tasks, finding time for core advisory activities and practice growth can be extremely difficult.