Approximately 18 months ago, there was a slight cheer amongst the advice community as the FCA announced that their ‘Assessing Suitability Review 2’ was being scrapped, citing the global pandemic as the cause of the shift in the Regulators priorities.

That cheer is likely to have diminished with the early 2023 announcement of a thematic review into retirement income advice. With the work beginning immediately, and the outcome of the review to be published in the final quarter of 2023 we are seeing many firms reflect inwards and look at their processes in what is an increasingly complex advice area. This reflection goes hand in hand with the work prompted by the upcoming Consumer Duty.