Standard Life welcomes the new FSA Policy Statement issued.
The key points are:
– Cash rebates – FSA to undertake further research
– Voting rights – all customers must be notified of their right as an underlying investor to receive voting rights
– Advisers – can operate on a single platform.
Ronnie Taylor, Standard Life’s retail managing director said:
“We welcome confirmation that an adviser can operate on a single platform for the majority of investment business, and the change to voting rights. However we are disappointed that the debate on payments to platforms and cash rebates has not been resolved.
“We will now progress with implementation and supporting advisers through the changes they’ll need to make for 31 December 2012. We will work closely with advisers to support them to ensure changes are made with minimal impact to their day to day business.
“We fully support the RDR and the changes it will make to financial services distribution in the UK.”
In detail – Standard Life’s view on the key points of today’s Policy Statement:
Cash Rebates
We are disappointed that the debate on payments to platforms and cash rebates has not been resolved. Customers benefit from the greater transparency and flexibility our current process offers. The FSA plans to conduct further analysis in this area, and we will actively participate in this.
Voting rights
We are in favour of allowing and encouraging underlying investors to exercise their voting rights. We believe that giving customers the opportunity to opt-out of receiving this information would have been a more sensible approach, this would have met both the needs of the customer whilst minimising the additional cost.
Single Platform
We welcome confirmation that an adviser can operate on a single platform for the majority of investment business. We believe the choice to operate from a single or multiple platforms will enable advisers to continue to service their clients in the most effective way to suit their business model.
Source : Standard Life Press Release
