Are simple products a threat to IFAs?

Conscious of the impending pensions crisis – where individuals’ failure to save for ­retirement will collide with the state’s ­inability to provide for them to a decent ­standard of living in old age – the Treasury recently ­embarked on a drive to help consumers save for the long term. Amid concerns that consumers find the ­financial services market “bewildering”, HMT created a ­steering group tasked with developing simple products, following a government consultation launched last December which set out how they could be brought to market. Simple products sit alongside other consumer...