The most amusing point about the "infernally-insular" debate on whether IFA or restricted is best, according to Openwork head of strategy Campbell Macpherson, is that the people who ultimately pay advisers' wages couldn't care less.
Surveys that purport to proclaim that customers prefer “independent” advisers are misleading, and often deliberately so. Asking a consumer whether they would prefer to deal with an “independent” adviser or a “restricted” adviser tells us absolutely nothing. To the vast majority of the population who do not spend their days immersed in the nuances of RDR and therefore do not appreciate the context, these labels are just meaningless words. You may as well ask if they would prefer dealing with a ‘happy’ adviser or a ‘sad’ adviser. The answer to this would also be overwhelmingly in favour...
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