Barclays: Fund groups must 'completely rethink' retail strategies post-RDR

In a note on the landscape for financial services firms post-Retail Distribution Review (RDR), the bank said branding will become increasingly important as the direct-to-consumer market gathers momentum. "Recognition is typically low for the asset management industry with a low degree of customer interaction compared to other financial services," the note read. "This may have been fine when manufacturers distributed their products predominantly through an incentivised adviser network of a few thousand." "However, we believe asset managers are likely to fundamentally rethink their s...