FCA: Retirement income advice

FCA has published the text of the letter it has written to CEOs of financial advice firms asking them to review their processes when providing retirement income advice.  This follows FCA’s thematic review, also published in full form and in summary, which identified examples of firms not taking account of the needs of their customers.  Although most of the advice files FCA reviewed showed advice provided was suitable, in a small number of instances recommendations resulted in consumers losing guarantees or incurring unnecessary charges.  To help firms, FCA has published a Retirement Income Advice Assessment Tool (RIAAT) and accompanying instructions. This tool shows how the regulator assessed advice files and shows how firms can assess if their advice is compliant with the rules, including the Consumer Duty. FCA has also published an item on cash flow modelling article which will help firms when undertaking modelling.  All of these may be downloaded via the link below.