The Financial Conduct Authority's work on the advice-guidance boundary is not just another attempt at changing things around the edges, says Jamie Jenkins.
The director of policy and communications at Royal London says there is a lot of "positivity and pragmatism" in the regulator's latest proposals to more clearly define the boundary and introduce a form of targeted support and simplified advice.
He tells FT Adviser: "From discussions that I've had, my sense is this isn't just another, you know, attempt at sort of changing things around the edges. It is a more genuine effort to really start to solve the problem."
And he says it is not just about closing the so-called advice gap, there is a wider issue with guidance and support too, which this consultation addresses.
"A lot of what we do is currently framed in the negative," he says, "telling people what not to do, and the risks of things going wrong rather than what would be helpful and sort of steering them towards what they might do.
"And we've become obsessed with the idea that the answers need to be right for everybody all the time, rather than what would be beneficial for most people most of the time, and certainly a better outcome than saying nothing."
The FCA has proposed to allow authorised firms to recommend products based on what would be suitable for 'people like you'.
It also wants to establish a form of simplified advice that allows advisers to recommend a product without paying attention to the client's whole set of circumstances. For instance, they could advise on investment Isas without considering their client's pension situation.
It would allow advisers to only hold qualifications in the single area or product on which they advise, nevertheless many, including Jenkins, say there will be limited interest from established advice firms.
"There hasn't been the growth of this kind of regime under previous proposals, and there hasn't been a huge amount of interest in it," he says.
"I think there is space for it... It's difficult to determine whether it will work and who will adopt it."
But he notes there could be interest from robo-advice services, as demonstrated in Australia where digital services have proliferated over the past 10 years.
"Those who are trying to deliver full financial advice online I think have struggled. That's what I've picked up. Where there's been success in the sort of digital advice offering is in the space of trying to give advice around a very narrow need," he says.
"My sense is that people are more receptive to paying a small fee for that type of service. Rather than saying, I'll do my whole financial advice online."
In contrast, Jenkins says, there is a lot of interest in developing targeted support, which could also attract digital providers due to its data-led characteristics.
