On 24 February 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published findings from its multi-firm review of whether financial advisers are delivering the ongoing advice services that consumers have paid for.

Background

Financial advisers can charge their clients for ongoing advice and related services, and the FCA notes that it was concerned those ongoing advice services (which can be of considerable benefit to consumers) may not always have been delivered where they should have been.

To assess this, the FCA wrote to 22 of the largest advice firms in February 2024, asking for information and data on their delivery of ongoing advice covering the previous 7 years. The review focused on delivery of suitability reviews in particular.

Findings

The FCA found that financial advisers are delivering suitability reviews in the vast majority of cases included in its review of ongoing advice. Specifically, it notes that the data provided by firms as part of the review showed that suitability reviews were delivered in around 83% of cases. In a further 15% of cases, the FCA was told that clients either declined or did not respond to the firm’s offer of a review. There were fewer than 2% of cases where firms reported they had made no effort to deliver the suitability review to clients.

Next steps

The FCA asks all firms to review the findings and take the necessary action to ensure consumers are getting the service they are paying for. Firms carrying out proactive reviews are requested to look back to 2018. If firms receive complaints from customers about delivery of ongoing services, they are reminded to handle these in line with their obligations and the rules set out in DISP, and to consider whether it would be appropriate in all the circumstances to pay redress. The FCA plans to monitor complaint numbers and to conduct further work later in 2025, to assess how firms have responded to the issues it has identified and review actions that they have taken. This will include considering whether appropriate remedies are being applied.

The FCA also notes that it plans to review the existing rules relating to financial advisers’ ongoing services to make sure they stay up to date and relevant, and that it will engage with the sector in 2025 on this review.