IFA industry faces up to polarisation

scottish life's alasdair buchanan says recent fsa proposals could see the industry return to the extremely murky, dirty days of the 1980s

In stock markets and in the wider world, history tends to repeat itself. There is a risk that this will be the case with the proposed de-polarised financial services regime, leading to a return to the confusion seen in the advice market in the 1960s. Before 1987 and the introduction of polarisation under the Financial Services Act 1986, there was a lack of clarity about the status of financial advisers. Those who were tied agents could pass themselves off as independent. Other abuses of the regime, also prevalent at the time, included the payment of extra commission in return for higher...