Armchair Critic: In search of the meaning of 'advice'

Why an ‘ought' or a ‘should' is so important

clock • 4 min read

In matters of finance, there is information and then there is advice - any other equivocation, argues Professional Adviser's Armchair Critic Brendan Llewellyn, is misguided and doomed

The Treasury has now announced a consultation on the meaning of advice, which is in part intended to open the market for the providers of guidance. Yet, only a few weeks earlier, the Financial Conduct Authority in the form of policy director David Geale said we should not get too hung up on the distinction between advice and guidance. And Michael Johnson, research fellow at think tank the Centre for Policy Studies, said this distinction between guidance and advice is ‘"complete bloody nonsense" because people in the street do not understand it. I would reverse the second statement - peop...

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