To mark the second anniversary of Consumer Duty, Dynamic Planner has shared a new whitepaper focused at offering timely insight into real-world impact. Consumer Duty was more than just a regulatory shift—it aimed to embed a fundamental mindset change across the financial services industry. But two years on, how much has actually changed? Drawing on findings from the ‘Advice 2025 research’ and Dynamic Planner data, this paper takes stock of the progress made—and the challenges that remain.
Advice 2025: Consumer Duty two years on– a snapshot:
- Consumer Duty has provided a lens with which to navigate all of the change we’ve seen in the past two years, from a new government to a new global geopolitical landscape to the integration of AI.
- It has become the framework and foundation the regulator hoped for: today, over half of advisers (52%) view the Duty as having had a positive impact on their business, according to the FCA – a significant increase from 45% in 2024.
- There have been challenges – most notably, a widening of the advice gap even as the government and the regulator sought to close it. Advice 2025 found two-thirds of firms have raised their minimum level of investable assets since the introduction of Consumer Duty, while around two in five have offboarded clients.
- But help is on the way in the form of targeted support – which firms are keen to embrace. Technology, too, is playing a vital role.
- While some of the formal requirements and bureaucracy of the Duty may be scaled back, the principle remains at the heart of the regulatory agenda, providing the basis for targeted support and more.
- Consumer Duty has the potential to become what advisers have long argued for: a form of regulation that recognises their desire to act in their clients’ best interests and gets out of their way to let them do just that.
The full ‘Advice 2025, Consumer Duty two years on’ whitepaper can be seen here.
