FIN. TeamThe Personal Investment Management and Financial Advice Association (PIMFA) welcomes the publication of an industry guide by threesixty services LLP, with input and collaboration from PIMFA and DFM Connect, a group of firms providing discretionary services to advisers and their underlying clients.
The guide deals with how the relationships between adviser firms, their clients and discretionary investment managers (DIMs) can best be structured in line with the FCA rules on “Agent as Client” (COBS 2.4.3R) and “Reliance on Others” (COBS 2.4.4R), taking account of the increasing role that platforms play in making third-party discretionary services available to advisers.
The impact of the Retail Distribution Review, which introduced a ban on referral payments between advisers and DIMs, has also led to advisers and DIMs working more closely together in partnership rather than operating on a simple referral basis.
The guide also highlights the pros and cons to both the Agent as Client and Reliance on Others models and sets out the features of each model, allowing firms to make informed decisions about which is likely to work best for their business and their clients in any given scenario.
