Retail Distribution Review

Written evidence from Carl Hope, Douglas Hope Financial Management

I have been asked to comment on information given by AIFA on the matter of RDR, I am a sole trader and I am being put in an extremely difficult position by the necessity to increase the qualification I currently have by the end of 2012. As a sole trader I do not have the resource to spend hours every week studying as I have several hundred clients that require looking after on a daily basis, I also have a young family, I find myself after 23 years as a financial adviser being put in the position of either neglecting my family and clients or spending hundreds of hours trying to absorb enough information to pass exams which I have managed happily without. In 23 years I have never had a complaint for miss selling of bad financial advice. I am being told that despite my track record and the excellent client service I offer I will be unable to carry on earning an income unless I pass these retrospective qualifications. The FSA have made a huge error in forcing this issue as the IFA community is already shrinking and this is going to lead to less access to Independent advice In 2013, the main beneficiaries of RDR will be the banks and as you are probably already aware the bulk of all complaints forwarded to the Ombudsman are bank related. Only a small portion are IFA related.

The banks have huge resources at their disposal, I do not, the thought of waking up in 2013 and being unable to do the job I was well qualified to do in 2012 has not only given me sleepless nights but is also putting my family and my staff at risk. Like most people I have spoken to the only people who want RDR are the companies with the resources to  allow their employees the time to study, as a sole trader I do not have that resource or time.

Our business is about people and experience, not the ability to retain information  long enough to pass an exam, people use people because they like them not because they have a whole string of letters after their name. IFA’s offer a valuable service to the community and most of us are small single offices with limited time or resources. Please do not let the FSA ride rough shod over us and force RDR through the system without speaking to the real IFA community first.

I love what I do, meeting people and solving problems for them, I do not know what I else I could do if I was forced out of the industry because I did not have the "Qualifications’ necessary as dictated by the FSA, please help? RDR will not increase the amount of people seeking advice it will reduce the amount of people able to give it!!

December 2010