Much to think about

It’s been a funny few months, with much to reflect on and think about now the holiday season is coming to an end.

We have had the Consumer Duty rules, the seemingly never-ending hustings for a new Prime Minister, the continuing war in Ukraine and now the looming energy crisis which finally got real last week with the announcement of the price cap increased to an eye watering amount.

Consumer Duty is the “Hot topic” for IFAs, with the rules published on the 27th of July. Have you started to make your plans yet? Many IFAs, have already sensibly invested a good deal of time to get to grips and understand the implications of them. With the deadline for firms plans to be agreed and signed off by boards by the end of October, the next couple of months are going to be quite busy.

Unsurprisingly, we have been inundated by calls in the last couple of weeks by IFAs, who I would add, are split in to two camps. The first, mostly of my generation, have reached the end of their tether, and are looking for, or seriously thinking of an exit by the time the rules come in to place next July.

My advice to these has been that I believe there will be quite a few businesses for sale come January next year, so, if serious, to start making plans for a sale in the early autumn. However, I’ve also advised it’s essential, not to make a snap decision, as help is available to put these rules in to place.
In fact, if you are thinking of selling up, you will still need to have your signed off Consumer Duty plans in place by the end of October.

I have also advised that at this time there will be many “Consolidators” circling looking to buy up businesses, so, if an unsolicited offer is received, do check with us before agreeing any deal, as there will be plenty of other options open.

Secondly, we have the IFAs that are continuing, but just want some help to implement the new rules.

What we have tried to do at Harrison Spence is to make it easier for IFAs to understand the rules and we have constructed an initial framework which will include gap analysis to decide what works need priority to achieve compliance.

Remember, it is only your plans that need to be in place by the end of October. However, you can expect to be challenged after this date by the FCA to submit these plans to them for scrutiny. Following a request, I would expect that the time limit for submission to the FCA will be in the manner of only a few days.

For those interested, we still have our offer available of a free 15-minute telephone consultation, and our Consumer Duty framework is available for a fixed price fee.
I’d like to finish by returning  to the energy crisis, as it won’t have escaped even those that can afford to pay their bills how serious this situation is, most consumers are already planning how they can make savings, and cost cutting ideas are the topic of most news channels.

I believe this could be a challenging time for IFAs, many who will have clients faced with difficult choices, our help and guidance will be much needed and appreciated as always in times of crisis. I would suggest that communications to client’s stress how you can help if it is needed.

As always, if we can help you with any of the above, we would be happy to have an initial call at our expense.