From 2013, independent advisers must have a working knowledge of all ‘retail investment products'. There's just one problem: the FSA has been slow to define what they are.
A lack of clarity from the regulator on the definition of a “retail investment product” (RIP) is hampering advisers’ preparations for the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), it has been claimed. In an RDR policy paper last year, the Financial Services Authority introduced the term to reflect the “range of products that a consumer would expect an IFA to have knowledge of”. The regulator said RIPs would include not just packaged products, but also structured investment products, all investment trusts and unregulated collective investment schemes. Also included are “any other in...
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