Lock and load: Steve Young lays into 'new' distribution models

John Wayne immortalised the phrase “lock and load” in his 1949 classic film, The Sands of Iwo Jima. It has come to symbolise a kind of bravado associated with firearms and the military. In today’s financial marketplace, the term can be used to describe a very different business strategy. The holy grail for any financial product manufacturer is to control a distribution channel where the level of price sensitivity is low and to lay off any regulatory liability from poor advice. The independent channel has proved to be highly resistant to any control, and competition has ensured that, a...