Financial wellbeing needs a tailored approach: The FCA’s vision for financial services

In her recent address to The Investing and Saving Alliance annual conference, the FCA’s Deputy Chief Executive Sarah Pritchard highlighted that financial wellbeing in the UK “goes beyond one size fits all“.

With shifting demographics, evolving life goals and increasingly complex financial markets, Sarah urged regulators, government policy makers, service providers and consumers to embrace new, more tailored approaches.

Adapting advice to diverse needs

In her speech on 12th November, Sarah Pritchard looked back at the social and living experiences of older generations to reflect on the work still needed to help all generations access services more easily and make the most of their financial futures.

She identified the key to unlocking better financial futures: “We recognise that further thought and engagement is needed, but the aim is clear: an industry supporting consumers to fully understand their options for funding later life, receiving timely and appropriate support and advice, with products that deliver positive outcomes, offering fair value.”

This fits with the FCA’s strategy to support innovation and growth. The regulator is driving a move for investors to embrace opportunity risk and shift deposit-based cash funds to equity-based investments, seeking to unlock growth and prosperity. For some consumers, this requires a shift in mindset, and the FCA sees targeted support as the change that will encourage the national conversation.

The government also made that strategy clear in the November 2025 Budget statement, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “From April 2027 I will reform our ISA system, keeping the full £20,000 allowance while designating £8,000 of it exclusively for investment with over 65s retaining the full cash allowance.” The deepened tax-heavy landscape, with frozen thresholds and higher investment taxes, is also pushing advisers to help clients adapt quickly.

In her speech for TISA, Pritchard called on firms to play their part in re-education. She challenged firms not to fall back on standard descriptions of investment risk that have become mainstays of risk conversations, suitability reports and financial promotions, such as “capital at risk”, but to promote the benefits of investing.

Firms also need to think about customer vulnerabilities and how they engage with customers to ensure that customers with vulnerabilities receive good outcomes. Pritchard’s messaging is focused on consumers who may be new to investing and whose first step into financial services may be through targeted support, which firms may or may not be keen to embrace. Firms should also challenge themselves on whether they are fully taking up their role in enabling existing customers to meet their financial objectives.

Continued focus on Consumer Duty value measures

Firms should take steps to evidence how customers are better off as a result of paying for services through a range of criteria. TCC and Recordsure frequently talk to firms that are struggling to identify their value measures and demonstrate that engaging the firm produces good results, either through quantitative measures or customer experience.

One key criterion is whether a firm is enabling clients to be invested. For example, do firms know what proportion of customer assets are held in cash and why?

Other criteria could include providing holistic solutions across all customers’ financial needs. Firms need to consider whether protection and borrowing needs are being met alongside investment needs.

The FCA has been clear about its “Show me, don’t tell me” strategy and continues to emphasise its focus on data-led oversight. Firms are expected to understand the importance of delivering and evidencing good customer outcomes, and to be clear about their approach to evidencing compliance in a data-led regulatory world.