Are you being swerved?

GOSLING'S GROUSE

Do you ever get the feeling this industry needs a kick up the backside? Yes? Well so do I, because for an industry that talks about being ‘customer'-focused, it is anything but in general terms.

Many parts of the industry do not even know who their customer is and, frankly, the regulators do not help this situation. If you are an insurance company or fund manager distributing through IFAs, who is your customer? The adviser or the adviser’s client? Even the word ‘client’ is the wrong one – it should be customer. In this case, the customer of the product provider is the IFA and the IFA’s customer is the man in the street – the one who consumes the product. Does everyone in the chain supplying that man or woman in the street with a financial product or piece of advice actuall...