As businesses continue to embed Consumer Duty into their working practices, we're asking people from across Parmenion how they think the new regulation will change the financial services sector.
Next up is Colin Morris, an Investment Manager in Parmenion's Investment Management team. Over to you, Colin...
I've been working to get the PIM team ready for Consumer Duty by reviewing our PIM solutions, looking at their target markets and assessing their value to make sure we're giving our customers the best options possible.
1. What team do you work in?
PIM (Parmenion Investment Management). We work to deliver consistent investment outcomes from our range of investment solutions, suitable for a diverse group of clients.
2. How are you applying the new regulation to your work?
We want to make sure the solutions we’re offering are suitable for our customers, so we’ve produced target market statements for all our investment portfolios so advisers can be confident they’re recommending the most appropriate solutions to clients. And we’re also doing assessments of the value of our solutions so customers can be sure they’re getting a high quality of service at a reasonable cost.
3. How has Consumer Duty changed your approach to working in PIM?
Parmenion have always been very consumer-focused, and in PIM, we work with advisers everyday so we’re very aware of what’s most wanted.
But the value assessment has been a great opportunity to bring some of those different strands together into a focused report and we’ll keep looking at how we communicate to consumers so they can make informed decisions about financial products and solutions we offer.
4. How do you think Consumer Duty will help advisers or customers?
I think Consumer Duty will provide greater clarity to consumers.
Businesses must now be able to evidence how solutions are being managed, and the particular ways they deliver value so the consumer is able to make an educated decision about their money. But it’s more than that, we must make sure we communicate this in a clear and succinct way.
5. What does Consumer Duty mean to you?
It's an opportunity to shine a light on all the good things we do with the consumer in mind, to make it visible. Consumer Duty holds us to account to maintain those standards and strive to deliver the best customer outcomes.
This article is for financial professionals only. Any information contained within is of a general nature and should not be construed as a form of personal recommendation or financial advice. Nor is the information to be considered an offer or solicitation to deal in any financial instrument or to engage in any investment service or activity.
Parmenion accepts no duty of care or liability for loss arising from any person acting, or refraining from acting, as a result of any information contained within this article. All investment carries risk. The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up and investors may get back less than they put in. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.