The Retail Distribution Review has strengthened the bond between advisers and their clients and quadrupled the number of chartered adviser members of the PFS, according to Vanessa Barnes.
Speaking to FTAdviser in the run up to the tenth anniversary of the RDR on December 31, the member director at the Personal Finance Society says the regime overall had been a success.
"There is lots of evidence that the quality of advice has improved," she says. "We would welcome the fact that it has strengthened the bond between advisers and their clients and made that the pivot of the relationship rather than having perhaps as much provider influence. So it's definitely been a success.
"And for the PFS, it was broadcast loudly beforehand that it would be the death of financial services but our membership has increased by 30 per cent over that 10 years, and more importantly the number of chartered members we have has increased by 300 per cent. There's no question there has been a rise in the quality of professionalism within the profession."
Though Barnes does recognise there has been an additional burden on advisers which is "not ideal", she also explains that it's not necessarily the advice that has changed but the way it needs to be evidenced.
But she said the PFS had a firm focus on solving the professional indemnity insurance problem the industry was facing as a result of regulatory changes, including the volatility of premiums, which she said is one of the biggest barriers to more people getting financial advice.
To hear more about the effect the RDR has had on advice - good and bad - and the way the PFS's membership has transformed over the past 10 years, click play on the video above.
carmen.reichman@ft.com
