After a year of celebrating targeted support as a concept, the industry is now shifting from principle to practice. Providers are preparing applications, building data strategies and mapping communications, all while trying to interpret what meaningful support really looks like in practice.
For firms, the challenge isn’t simply regulatory. It’s behavioural. How do you create a customer journey that genuinely informs, motivates and empowers without crossing the line into regulated advice? How do you balance the responsibility to educate with the need to protect? These are the questions that will define which firms are able to move beyond compliance and actually deliver on the FCA’s ambition.
When it comes to designing technology or processes that make financial guidance more accessible, the starting point should always be the desired customer outcome. The aim of targeted support is to help people become better informed and confident enough to act on that knowledge. Helping someone see how today’s pension contributions shape their future lifestyle is far more meaningful than presenting another projection. The goal is not data, it’s comprehension that leads to action.
Take contribution adequacy. A provider might already know a customer’s age, contribution rate and investment mix, but not their other pots or intended retirement age. With sufficient data maturity, firms can identify customers at risk of shortfall, but the insight only matters if it drives engagement. The question then becomes: how do you prompt action, not just awareness?
Experience suggests that visualisation plays a vital role. Showing outcomes in relatable, personal terms such as retirement lifestyle or one-off goals creates an emotional connection. Pre-filling data helps, but genuine personalisation means meeting customers where they are, using design to nudge rather than instruct. Engagement without action is a dead end. The most effective interventions make complex outcomes tangible, giving people not only the information but the motivation to act.
There’s also a broader shift underway that firms can’t ignore. The rise of generative AI has already reshaped how people seek financial guidance. Recent research shows that more than half of UK adults now turn to tools like ChatGPT for money matters, from budgeting and pensions to investments and tax tips. That appetite for immediacy and personalisation has changed expectations almost overnight.
Consumers are benchmarking all forms of guidance, regulated or not, against the digital experiences they already use every day. They expect responses that feel relevant, contextual and fast. Targeted support has to meet that same standard, but within a framework of regulation, accuracy and protection. That’s no small task. But it’s also the clearest signal yet that technology-led guidance, done well, can bring new audiences into financial planning who might never have engaged before.
To achieve that, firms will need to blend technology, empathy and governance. Intelligent data capture, modular systems and secure automation can deliver personalisation at scale, but clarity of purpose still matters most. Customers must understand how their data is used, what protections apply, and where human judgment comes in. The firms that communicate this openly will set the standard for trust in the new advice ecosystem.
Ultimately, targeted support represents far more than a compliance exercise. It’s a test of the industry’s ability to reimagine connection and rebuild confidence in financial decision-making. Done well, it can bridge the gap between digital convenience and human understanding, empowering customers to make better decisions, helping advisers reach those excluded from traditional advice, and strengthening the industry’s long-term relationship with the public.
The opportunity isn’t just to meet the FCA’s expectations, it’s to shape the next era of financial guidance. The firms that get this right won’t just comply with regulation, they’ll lead a market that’s more transparent, more inclusive, and ultimately, more human.
