PFS Conference: Advice gap is a national issue
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Incoming president of the Personal Finance Society Eddie Grant says the issue of consumers not undertaking any financial planning is an urgent issue which needs to be addressed.
Grant was sworn in as PFS president at the body’s annual conference in Coventry today. He takes over the presidency from Mike Fosberry.
At the handover Grant said: “As president I wish to achieve a more strategic goal in trying to improve consumer financial planning engagement.
“Whilst we all recognise the value of advice, there are many consumers who do not undertake any financial planning. This is a national issue and one we should seek to address as unless there’s a change in this cultural gap in savings and protection needs we really have a moving problem in this country.”
His comments echo Money Marketing’s recently launched Pave the Way to Save campaign, which calls on the regulator to be given a statutory objective to help plug the protection gap and boost the UK savings market.
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Readers' comments (6)
Peter Duffy | 21 Sep 2010 11:32 am
At least he'll know how it feels to be "living on the front line".
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Mr City | 21 Sep 2010 11:42 am
What a snooze fest. Yet again an industry body is commenting on a lack of education in its target market.
It takes a massive amount of money to change intellectual inertia which the industry does not have and the PFS does not have it for sure.
If the citizens of this great country still don’t understand what financial planning is and what it can do for them then they will never know.
I personally would suggest that the time and effort and money required to win such an impossible task is spent elsewhere.
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John Blackmore | 21 Sep 2010 11:42 am
Of course it's a problem but until the PFS, FSA, CII and others in power understand that they are the main cause of the problem there will be no solution.
For 25 years now the "Profession" ( what a joke) has being going in the wrong direction, obsessing over the "advice" process, higher qualifications and other initiatives which ultimately result in higher costs and less choice for the normal consumer.( 95% of the market)
Focusing almost exclusively on the very small market for complex advice those who control the Industry have quite simply created the advice gap that they are now so concerned about.
Banning commission, requiring fees, requiring higher qualifications and all the other nonsense of the RDR will only make the gap wider.
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David James | 21 Sep 2010 11:48 am
Sorry Peter, not the same Mr Grant I think. Or is it ???
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Dale Tranter | 21 Sep 2010 11:56 am
..which gives me some hope, Joanna..
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Julian Stevens | 21 Sep 2010 1:24 pm
No worries ~ the CFEB (which we're all going to have to fund if we continue to be regulated by the FSA) will sort this one out.
Add to that the cost of all the other endlessly escalating regulatory levies plus the occasional one-off special levies for various corporate failures plus the RDR plus the never-ending stream of hindsight reviews and pretty soon the only IFA's left will be those catering for the needs of HNW clients who are prepared to pay hefty fees. As for everyone else...........
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