The great independence conundrum

City Asset Management's Tracy Coghill asks how far the financial services industry has got to grips with RDR now the deadline has passed, and tackles the issue of restricted versus independent advice.

You know an issue affecting our business is truly in the public eye when it hits the national press. The impact of RDR, in particular the ‘independent vs restricted’ debate, has just achieved that level of publicity. Many of us have spent the latter half of 2012 in long and taxing conversations about the impact of the new regime. The view of professional bodies, such as the Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority, and Institute of Chartered Accountants have also been of real significance. Notably, not all have been in complete consensus – the last quarter of 2012 saw a significan...