cherry forum reveals most talked about topics in August

22 September 2023

Vulnerable clients and Consumer Duty, the end of Tenet’s involvement in the network arena and procuration fees from product transfers were three of the subjects most talked about by advisers in August on the cherryplc.co.uk industry Forum.

cherry’s popular forum, which attracted more than 5,500 unique adviser visitors during the month, again highlights and allows debate about these and many other key areas of interest during the month.

The most popular thread looked at the complex area of vulnerable clients following the introduction of Consumer Duty and its related requirements on 31 July. Many threads, considering different angles, showed there is a clear and significant frustration within the adviser community who appear to fear that the requirements may well have the opposite effect of what was presumably intended. In addition, many commented about their fears of falling foul of the new regulatory regime, as well as suggesting how matters could be improved.

Unsurprisingly, another popular thread on cherry, looked at the demise of Tenet. Some, not all, advisers were initially shocked by the news that such a long-established player was selling its network business, and subsequently, the various threads turned to wider discussions about the future of networks generally, as well as advisers’ own authorisation strategies moving forward.

Meanwhile, procuration fees were once again a popular topic for advisers, resulting in discussions about what they felt was a fair fee for a product transfer. This comes at a time when more mortgage borrowers are turning to product transfers because they are finding remortgage options becoming limited due to affordability pressures.

Other popular topics in August included alleged conditional selling by estate agents, high net worth mortgage brokers and the best networks in the market.

Donna Hopton, Director at cherry, said: “As the cherry broker forum is a trusted arena for intermediaries to discuss matters with their colleagues across the industry, it will surprise no one that Consumer Duty was at the heart of the most popular thread last month.

“Of course, all advisers want to be able to recognise when clients may be vulnerable and act accordingly but there is a substantial degree of concern and frustration over Consumer Duty ‘requirement interpretation’ around vulnerable clients. Not only do advisers fear risks for clients but also for themselves.

“One can only hope that their voices are heard by those who can effect change, as intermediaries have had very little that is positive to say about this issue.”