An International Adviser poll, which asked “should providers do more to vet advisers”, found 75% of readers believe providers “must be scrupulous” in vetting advisers before they conduct business with them.
In addition, nearly 10% believe there should “possibly” be more checks, but that these should only be conducted on certain products such as pensions. Conversely, 15% believe advisers are already subject to enough checks.
The poll was conducted in response to an article written by Sarah Lord, who is wealth planning director at the Dubai branch of Killik & Co.
In her piece, published last week, Lord argued the UK pensions knowledge of many expat IFAs based in the UAE is “seriously lacking” and said providers should do more to vet applications to protect clients and ultimately raise the quality of advice in the region more generally.
Many agreed with Lord’s article and suggested the case was very similar outside of the UAE.
David Goodall, an IFA based in the UK and Spain, said the problems were very similar in Spain and said there are advisory firms which use the guise of being regulated by the FSA as a marketing tool.
Similarly, another reader, Christopher Lean, said the problem is unlikely to be limited to the UAE and noted that while providers “don’t have responsibility for the advice given at the coal face, but they should do some basic checks, particularly in the areas of complex advice such as QROPS, trusts etc.”
Meanwhile, Gary Cane said industry bodies should also play a role, offering uncertified workshops to build knowledge “especially in the offshore market”.
