Nearly one in two IFA firms is at risk of being forced out of the advice market under proposals outlined in the Retail Distribution Review, Fidelity International has warned.
In a poll of more than 500 firms, 44% said they would become General Financial Planners if the Financial Services Authority presses ahead with a three-tier model of retail investment distribution. Peter Hicks, head of IFA business at Fidelity said: “The risk for general financial planners is that they may simply be squeezed out of the market. Fee-based firms would be the natural selection of high-net-worth investors and the banks may well concentrate on the mass market. General practitioners could find themselves between a rock and a hard place.”
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