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Advisers should not bear advice gap burden alone, says PFS

Meanwhile, Sesame Bankhall Group’s chief executive officer Michele Golunska said she agreed to some extent as she explained that the adviser community is not responsible alone but it does have a role to play.

Golunska explained that decision making for people has become much more complex.

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“We've seen a move from many decisions in later life being made by institutions moved to the individual, and actually they're not always equipped to understand what is a very complex set of decisions to make, not least what do you want to achieve in retirement?,” she said.

“The answer in terms of the lower income is actually thinking about education. What people actually need is help and I think what we probably need to do as an industry and certainly with support from the regulatory is, work out how we can do that in a way that enables advisers to use resources effectively and efficiently.”

She said it is about more education and tools that help people consider questions that they should be asking and then at what point they might want to engage with advice as opposed to the traditional model. 

“It might be different forms of advice and understanding the complexity of that person's decision making at the different life stages so the nearer someone gets to retirement the more it needs to have full advice,” she added.

“The answer has to be the use of digital tools and education and awareness. We have a role to play in that but certainly, it's not the responsibility of the adviser to bridge the advice gap.

“People would like access to advice but they don't know where to get it and they think it is too expensive and clearly for many it will be so we need to broaden it out.”

sonia.rach@ft.com

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