Vulnerability management: Consumer Duty all-important as consolidation continues

Will customer vulnerability management take over from AUM in 2025?

clock • 2 min read

Andrew Gething warns that ignoring Consumer Duty and customer vulnerability could deter consolidators and their private equity backers…

Recently, I was talking to a consolidator of financial adviser businesses about customer vulnerability management and the due diligence around Consumer Duty. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is likely to enforce Consumer Duty over 2025; this therefore represents quite a liability for acquirers if the target firm has not implemented Consumer Duty. Assets under management (AUM) effectively represent the amount of income an adviser can make from ongoing fees. It is relatively easy to adjust the percentage income from the assets to assess scenarios of income, taking into account fair...

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