Richard Bertin: What does it take for an industry to become a profession?

How can you tell when something is an industry or a profession? Doctor-profession. Lawyer-profession. Chartered accountant-profession. In 2013 we woke up to the dawn of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), minimum qualifications and the outlawing of commission (almost). Many IFAs have morphed into financial planners or wealth managers; this may help in repositioning the business, but does it move the dial in evolving from an industry to a profession? I think a lot of the debate will revolve around how you get paid in life. The fund management industry has not tried to ...