This week saw an extraordinary claim by HSBC.
The bank suggested a spike in sales of balanced funds towards the end of last year was evidence of IFAs commission-grabbing ahead of the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) rules. Here's its rationale: according to HSBC, balanced funds are, theoretically, less likely to underperform, meaning investors will be happy to stay put. This, HSBC said, keeps the commission tap running (remember: advisers continue to receive commission on retail investment products arranged prior to the 31 December RDR deadline, provided no new advice is given). HSBC's claim was extraordi...
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