It never has and never will be proven that changing the way advisers are paid or charge for their work will affect the quality of advice. As in any walk of life, you either want to do a good job or you don’t. The knee-jerk ban on ‘contingent charging’, where those advising on transfers from final salary pensions only get paid if you go ahead, will only improve things by drastically reducing the numbers advising and increasing the upfront cost of advice. Just as there’d be a lot less deaths on the roads if, at £250,000, a Tesla was the cheapest car.
“Letter of authority: Why now is the right time for change”
This may sound like a non-issue from outside the world-of-financial-advice bubble. It is the bain, however, of the daily working lives of many of us, particularly of those paid by we advisers to do the dirty work of dealing with the many providers with whom we have to work.