In her recent address to The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA) 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 alike to embrace new, more tailored approaches.
So how can financial advice firms adapt to meet the diverse needs of individuals rather than applying uniform solutions?
In her speech on 12th November, Sarah Pritchard was philosophical, looking back at the social and living experiences of older generations to reflect on work still needed going forward to help all generations access services more easily and to 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 to shift deposit-based cash funds to equity-based investments – and in doing so, unlock growth and prosperity. For some consumers, this can require a shift in their mindset to make the change, and the FCA sees targeted support as the revolution 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 is calling on firms to do their share of the re-education. She is challenging firms to not fall back on standard descriptions of investment risk which have become the mainstay 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 need to 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 be taking steps to evidence how customers are better off as a result of paying for services through a range of criteria. We frequently talk to firms who are struggling to identify their value measures – and how to demonstrate that engaging the firm produces good results either through quantitative measures or customer experience.
One of the key criteria is whether you are enabling clients to be invested. For example, do you know what proportion of your customers assets are held in cash and why?
Other criteria could be around providing holistic solutions across all customer’s financial needs; are their protection and borrowing needs being met, alongside their 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 be clear about their approach to evidencing compliance in a data-led regulatory world.
Strengthen your evidencing capabilities
Whether you need clarity on your ongoing Consumer Duty MI matrix or the ability to evidence outcomes at scale, TCC and Recordsure can help. TCC’s regulatory experts work with you to assess your current approach, identify gaps and benchmark your processes against best practice. And with Recordsure’s AI technology, you can analyse every interaction, surface risk and build a robust evidential framework without increasing headcount.
