FCA: Inducements probe not an attack on adviser income

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is not seeking to pile more pressure on adviser firms already under financial strain by investigating payments they may receive from providers, its director responsible for supervising advisers said.

Nick Poyntz-Wright (pictured) said the regulator was aware of the "pressure some firms are under" financially, but that boards needed to be mindful of how they looked to plug gaps in their income streams. The FCA has published the findings of a thematic review into provider inducements, which found that some life insurance firms had arrangements in place which could, in the eyes of the regulator, influence advisers. It said such deals, which became more commonplace in the run-up to the introduction of new rules following the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), may not look like traditio...