Post-RDR, the shape of financial advice is changing too. You cannot simply generalise the whole advice market as being identical but there are patterns emerging, particularly to cater for mass-market savers. Not all clients want, or are willing to pay for, ongoing financial advice. Some still do, but others will want an adviser to help them with certain transactions, dealing with life and financial events as they occur. They will want to dip in and out, taking advice on demand, making the best of both worlds.
Direct-to-consumer propositions that place so much emphasis on the investment experience will doubtless continue to do well. Indeed, it is often said that the journey, not the destination, is the reward. That may or may not be true when it comes to Sipps but it is important for savers to remember why they started on that journey in the first place, what their end goals are. Savers who choose providers that not only support them but their advisers when they need them will find both journey and destination more to their liking.
Greg Kingston is head of marketing and proposition at Suffolk Life
