Hmmm

I don't blame advisers. Providers have very much painted them into a corner by effectively forcing this as a model of choice for many years.

Posted by: Pensionsgeek

Entirely understandable

This is entirely understandable given the end of financial advice. The market will simply revert to a direct selling model from the banks. Only the enlightened few will need advice most will consider themselves experts by choosing the cheapest option. Financial advice has come full circle from selling to advising and now back to selling.The general public will be the loosers.

Posted by: Spike

so what

I can't understand why he feels the need to comment, he must be really nervous of his own structure if he's worried about this, I assume he's upset that these employers won't pay him for the advice and they have to go to a proper advisor that won't make the time sheets up. There is still customer choice out there at the moment until 2012 so live with it.

Posted by: Chris Glen

meanwhile back in the real world

We are a long established EBC, lots of clients big and small in a diverse range of markets. Only large employers will pay commercially viable fees as they are already doing so. Most of the rest won't as they don't have the budgets, and employees given a chance won't want to sit through 'dull' presentations and one to one meetings if they are told they can 'save money' by not doing so. Luckily we have enough renewal income as a firm to survive happily past 2012 without writing any new business ever again, which is exactly what will happen unless we acquire some of those large fee based accounts I mentioned. The rest of the market will be totally neglected as if EB consultants are not paid, they won't work, fairly obviously. We are not however engaging in a 'churnathon' as our accounts are already set up with adequate renewal income, but I can see a MASSIVE churning problem hitting the industry over the next two years, both in the corporate arena and private client. There are a great many advisers and their employers who simply don't expect to be around in 2013/14 so they won't have to answer for their actions. This is totally predictable and understandale as people do tend to become a little tetchy when their livelihoods are taken away. The train crash will I am sure unfold over the next few years in a very ugly fashion.....

Posted by: huw

Whistleblowers required!

No doubt the providers will be passing the names of these intermediaries to the FSA, so that they can investigate and if necessary stem at least one fiasco before it happens, namely the compensation claims that will fall on the FSCS for the rest of us to pick up.

Posted by: Michael S