Nucleus' Neilson: Time to boost adviser due diligence on DFMs

Follows FCA due diligence report

DFMs should be subject to the same level of scrutiny by advisers as they already carry out on the platform market, according to Nucleus business development head Barry Neilson.

His comments come after a recent paper by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that while advisers' overall due diligence was good, they were failing in some areas of their checks on platforms. But Neilson (pictured) believes it is DFM services, rather than platforms, which now need to be subject to more stringent research by the adviser community. He said: "We are already receiving due diligence papers which are 10-20 pages long from advisers but I doubt the due diligence for DFMs is anywhere near that long. Advisers should do the same amount with the same level of rigour. ...