FCA faces tricky balancing act on final investment platform 'remedies'

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently unveiled a package of 'remedies' to help improve competition in the investment platforms market, following on from recent work as part of its wider Asset Management Market Study.

In the interim report of the Investment Platforms Market Study, the regulator concluded competition is working well for most consumers using investment platforms but not all and it wants to address a number of problems before they get bigger. In particular, the FCA said it is difficult for consumers to choose a D2C platform on the basis of price and fees were hard to understand and compare, barriers to switching are significant and there were also concerns about the risk labelling and wide pricing range of model portfolios. The regulator is now seeking feedback on its initial findings...