FCA unveils bold reforms

FCA unveils bold reforms to bridge the UK’s financial advice gap📅 30 June 2025

Millions of UK savers—particularly those with spare cash or approaching retirement—are set to benefit from new ways to access financial guidance under a landmark FCA initiative:

• 🎯 Targeted Support: Firms can now offer tailored suggestions (e.g., investing savings, sustainable pension drawdown) to specific consumer groups—without the full cost and complexity of regulated advice reuters.com+14fca.org.uk+14mortgagesoup.co.uk+14.

• 💡 Simplified Advice: A lighter-touch model where firms offer basic recommendations based on key customer facts, without full suitability checks ft.com+2diyinvestor.net+2fstech.co.uk+2.

• Breaking the 9% barrier: Only around 9% of adults currently receive regulated advice each year. There are ~7 million adults with £10k+ in cash savings—many feeling overwhelmed or lacking confidence bmmagazine.co.uk+9fca.org.uk+9scottishfinancialnews.com+9.

Why it matters

• Empowerment & Inclusion: Aims to support 13–30 million people by offering affordable guidance and nudging those missing out on investment returns mortgagesoup.co.uk+4ft.com+4fstech.co.uk+4.

• Consumer safeguards: Built-in protections to ensure support doesn’t become covert sales pitches headlinemoney.co.uk+14content.govdelivery.com+14ifamagazine.com+14.

• Industry optimism: Firms like Hargreaves Lansdown, Vanguard, AJ Bell, Fidelity and Aberdeen Adviser welcome the move. They believe a wider advisory ecosystem—not just full advice—is essential