Complexity threatens investor chain

Price and transparency are rapidly becoming the ‘new' battlegrounds in investment advice, driven by the combination of RDR and attempts to entice more investors back into the markets.

The last decade has been one where the peak of every investment cycle pulls undecided investors into a sector just as that particular bubble is about to burst. These investors are usually self directed in so far as they either invest direct or go via an execution service offered by an advisory firm and the lack of advice and guidance often means they make the wrong decision at the wrong time. The net result is not only that they make ill-informed decisions, but they also disappear out of the investment markets and rely on their banks or pensions or property as their main form of long-ter...