A study, conducted amongst independent financial advisers by Insight Discovery, could not have come at a better time, given the current review of retail distribution in South Africa.
One of the areas currently being looked at concerns the relationship between product suppliers and intermediaries, with the stated intent of ensuring more accountability for product providers in the fair treatment of consumers. The outcomes of the survey will provide product providers with enhanced insight into the thinking and expectations of independent financial advisers (IFAs).
The second focus of the survey was to establish which challenges and opportunities were regarded as meaningful to IFAs in the foreseeable future.
In the foreword to the results, Nigel Sillitoe, CEO of Insight Discovery, notes:
“The lengthy and detailed responses to our open-ended questions prove that South African IFAs are incredibly passionate about their industry. For example, over two-thirds of all respondents took the time and trouble to give us feedback to open-ended questions such as: ‘What is your summary opinion of the RDR document released by the FSB?’
More than 220 IFAs answered this optional question, a staggering response and something we rarely observe when conducting similar studies in other parts of the world.”
There is no doubt that the results of this survey should play an important part in the deliberations of the six work streams currently reviewing the industry feedback to the RDR discussion document published in 2014.
This is possibly the only feedback voiced directly by those who will be influenced most by the final decision on how the distribution landscape will change.
Sillitoe closes the foreword with the following comment:
“As ever, we are very grateful to our Founding partner Investec and Moonstone Information Refinery, who helped generate such a high response rate to our survey. We also thank the survey respondents, who were generous with their time and comments.”
Please click here to download a summary of the survey.
