Pensions and investment provider Royal London has received approval from the Financial Conduct Authority to administer targeted support.
Having gone live this month, targeted support is intended to sit between guidance and full regulated advice and will allow firms to provide suggestions to groups of consumers who share common characteristics, particularly in relation to pensions and retail investments. The aim is to give more people access to meaningful support when making long-term financial decisions.
Having been involved in the development of the regulation since involvement in the initial industry working group, Royal London is now one of the first businesses to receive regulatory permissions to launch targeted support.
Ben Hampton, head of advice at Royal London, says: “From the start, we’ve worked closely with the FCA to help design a framework that allows innovation to flourish while maintaining strong consumer protections, empowering millions of people to take better financial decisions.”
Royal London modelling has projected that more than 21m people in the UK could benefit from targeted support.