Investment - Articles - Aegon comments on CMA report on investment consultants

 “Today’s provisional decision from the CMA on investment consultants and fiduciary management provides welcome clarity on the direction of travel for the firms themselves and the pension scheme trustees and employers using these services for the benefit of millions of pension scheme members.

 “With the many parallels and overlaps with other parts of the financial services industry, it’s not surprising that the CMA is recommending to Government that investment consultants and fiduciary managers are brought within the FCA's regulatory perimeter.

 This will ensure they can be subject to equivalent standards as other FCA regulated firms active in these areas, including disclosure of information to better enable fees and performance comparisons.

 “Many investment consultancies and fiduciary managers will already be operating to high standards and formally bringing all firm within FCA regulation should offer confidence to those using their services of consistent high standards.

 “Requiring trustees to run a competitive tender on first appointing a fiduciary manager, or within 5 years if already using one, should help address concerns over conflicts of interest. It also makes sense for the Pensions Regulator to offer trustees and employers more guidance on such matters and on how best to use new information to be made available. The joint pension strategy being developed by the FCA and the Pensions Regulator is an ideal means of ensuring regulatory join-up.”