As businesses continue to embed Consumer Duty into their everyday working lives, we’re asking people across Parmenion how they think the new regulation is changing the financial services sector. Next up is Dan Edwards, Head of Product (Retirement and Wealth Planning).
Dan's been a huge part of our working group - educating the firm on what Consumer Duty is and how we need to work to embed the new regulation into our daily working lives.
Over to you, Dan...
1. What team do you work in?
I work in the Product team here at Parmenion. As a team, we're responsible for the products that advisers and clients use every day. We're involved from conception through to delivery and development after launch.
2. How are you applying the new regulation to your work?
For us, it’s all about how we can embed the Consumer Principle into our customer-centric processes, so we create products and services that answer the challenges clients face.
With that in place, we can support advisers in being able to demonstrate value to their clients.
3. How has Consumer Duty changed your approach to working in the Product team?
Our concept development process has always put the consumer at the front and centre. We design and build our products so they meet our customers’ needs – we look at their objectives and characteristics and build products that solve their problems. So in that way, not a lot’s changed for us.
But what I think will change is the range of information we collect as our products are created and evolve, as well as how we monitor them through their product lifecycle.
4. How do you think Consumer Duty will help advisers or customers?
Quality adviser firms have always done a great job of creating value for their clients, but the industry hasn’t always been good at communicating this to consumers – you’ll remember the sometimes overwhelming amount of information given to you when you open a bank account, for example, or those wordy T&Cs given when you sign a new contract.
Consumer Duty will help with this. It’s rightly turning the focus onto value and customer understanding – making sure the customer understands what they’re being told and working towards delivering a good outcome. The new regulation is an opportunity for this holistic value to be brought to life in clear and creative ways.
5. What does Consumer Duty mean to you?
It's simply about doing the right thing.
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.