Consumer duty is a long-term business opportunity, not a short-term compliance box that needs to be ticked, according to Eddie Grant.
The former president of the Personal Finance Society and director of Technical Connection for St James's Place, told FTAdviser: "10 years ago we had the retail distribution review, which largely focused on the products and qualifications.
"Now we have consumer duty, which is all about the whole business. It is an opportunity for advisers to focus on their business."
But he stressed that the implementation date of July 31 was only the start, saying: "It’s an ongoing process of evaluating the business and the clients' needs, to ensure the best possible outcome for all clients."
Grant said that, in terms of readiness - the FCA's deadline in July 2023 should be seen only as the start of a long-term process.
He explained: "It's not one-and-done, as consumer duty is an ongoing process.
"Yes, companies may have sought to make sure they have got core principles in place as their first priority, but after this they will need to be working on the other elements of the duty continuously.
"It is an ongoing process; not something that has to all be done and dusted on day one of the new legislation."
Grant, who has been a staunch advocate of improving access to finance and better financial education for many years, added: "It’s also a great opportunity to assess vulnerability processes and to understand client vulnerabilities much better."
New Era
Last week, the PFS announced that Grant had been appointed to the PFS board as one of the Chartered Insurance Institutes's director members, as one of a cohort of board members to help lead the PFS/CII into a "new era".
This followed months of crunch talks and public spats relating to the CII and PFS boards, with accusations on both sides and high-profile people resigning over the year.
In January, the former PFS president Caroline Stuart announced her resignation, citing "pressure and stress". At the time, she said this had "increased exponentially since the CII appointed further institute directors to the PFS Board on December 21, 2022".
Grant served a six-year term on the PFS board joining originally in 2008.
He is a past CII vice-president, and a current trustee of the CII pension scheme. Previously he also sat on the CII's Professional Standards Board as the financial planning representative.
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com
