Treating customers fairly
The FSA expects advisors to ‘treat customers fairly’. In our view, it’s a sad reflection on financial services that the regulator has to impose something that advisors should be doing anyway.
We believe that treating customers fairly should be at the heart of every financial advisor’s philosophy. Unfortunately, that’s not true for many firms – but it is true for us. Since our foundation, we’ve built our business on treating our clients in a fair, open and honest manner.
Six aspects of fairness
The FSA has defined six outcomes explaining what they mean by ‘treating customers fairly’. Click below to read our approach to delivering each one.
Outcome 1: Consumers can be confident that they are dealing with Firms where the fair treatment of customers is central to the corporate culture.
Outcome 2: Products and services marketed and sold in the retail market are designed to meet the needs of identified consumer groups and are targeted accordingly.
Outcome 3: Consumers are provided with clear information and are kept appropriately informed before, during and after the point of sale.
Outcome 4: Where consumers receive advice, the advice is suitable and takes account of their circumstances.
Outcome 5: Consumers are provided with products that perform as Firms have led them to expect, and the associated service is of an acceptable standard and as they have been led to expect.
Outcome 6: Consumers do not face unreasonable post-sale barriers imposed by Firms to change product, switch provider, submit a claim or make a complaint.