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RDR will force consumers to pay more
05 August 2010
The Retail Development Review (RDR) will force consumers to pay more for advice, according to adviser forum Panacea. Panacea said it was the unintended consequence of the RDR that the people who were likely to suffer were consumers. Derek Bradley, chief executive of Panacea, said the upper five to ten per cent of consumers were happy to pay fees. He said: "But it is the rest of the market place who are almost disenfranchised but not by desire. "It is almost splitting people into camps which is very sad. "The average guy who will have inbuilt reluctance to pay fees to financial advisers for something they know has traditionally been renumerated by commission. "They will be turned off getting advice because as soon as you walk in the office the clock is ticking. Mr Bradley was also concerned about the qualification requirements to be imposed by the RDR. He said the problem was the application of the requirements to all financial advisers rather than those who were just about to qualify. Mr Bradley said: "I dont think anyone has any issue with better professional standards it is the retrospective application that is the problem. "You shouldn't take away someones livelihood because you want to make an industry more professional." Mr Bradley said the qualification requirements should not be applied retrospectively with a caveat for those advisers who did not have a clean record with the regulator. Published by FT Adviser
