Sales push: How providers are shaping their distribution models in time for RDR

With a year to go until proposals in the retail distribution review (RDR) become law, providers’ distribution models are changing...

The countdown to RDR is fast approaching and predictions about what a post-RDR advice industry will look like are still evolving. Some expect a reduction in the number of independent advisers, while others believe the very face of advice will change, with new categories such as ‘restricted’ and ‘simplified’ being hotly debated.

Providers are also beginning to move towards new distribution models, suggesting they have a clear idea what the future delivery of advice will look like...

Planwise

Friends Life launched direct-to-consumer (D2C) service Planwise in September. It offers “professional financial advice” over the phone or online to people who no longer have, or never had, and adviser.

Advisers have been quick to see Planwise as a covert plan to cut IFAs out of the sales process, selling direct to customers.

They have complained about letters sent out by Friends Life, asking investors to update their details including whether or not they have an IFA or want to remove the IFA they have listed.

Friends has since apologised for the letters, claiming they were “badly worded”, but it has denied Planwise would ever replace its relationship with advisers.

However, David Still, director of retirement income at Friends Life, said although it will serve customers of all incomes, it will focus on people who are unlikely to take advice when it expands into the annuity market next year.