TENET SUPPORTS ADVISERS TO REVIEW WITH PROFITS INVESTMENTS

Date Published: 02 June 2008

A year on from the FSA’s sector briefing on treating customers fairly with regard to With Profits, Tenet is generally satisfied with the level of reviews undertaken by its membership but is underlining there is still work to be done. To ensure advisers can determine with confidence if a With Profits investment is still the most suitable vehicle for their clients, Tenet, supported by Aegon, is providing a compliant review method and an independent With Profits analyser tool for With Profit Bonds.

Keith Richards, Tenet Group distribution and development director comments:

“The FSA has stated that advisers should review all clients’ With Profit investments but there is often a reluctance amongst the adviser population to review and give advice on existing With Profit investments, due to confusion on the facts and fear of being accused of mis-selling or even churning.

At Tenet, we are promoting a clear message that advisers should be proactively reviewing all their clients’ With Profits investments and are tackling any adviser uncertainty on the facts with the provision of a dedicated extranet zone including template documents, FAQs and guides, a series of workshops, regular compliance updates and by raising awareness at our recent round of professional development meetings. It is also the network’s intention to carry out thematic reviews concentrating on the suitability of recommendations to switch out of With Profits funds.”

To ensure all advice is clearly suitable for their clients’ circumstances, Tenet has put into place guidance and a process for its members and clients to use for With Profits investments that encompasses all the pertinent issues raised by the FSA and addresses them accordingly. This guidance will ensure full account is taken of internal switching possibilities, whether funds are closed and any intentions by providers to re-distribute any ‘orphan assets’. Where switching is identified as the appropriate action, then using proper analytical tools is in line with TCF best practice and offers a real opportunity for advisers to provide a valuable service to their clients.

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