Nathan Long, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, welcomes the ABI’s recommendations, calling it “an opportunity to change the rules for the better”.
Long explained: “Once you try to personalise communications you’re very quickly hamstrung by the advice-guidance boundary.
“The current rules make it very difficult to personalise generic content with enough information to be useful, because it becomes an implied recommendation. So, for example, if someone has invested in a high cost index tracking fund, you can’t highlight specific cheaper alternatives, even if they are like-for-like, which is a barrier to investors taking action in their best interests.
“We would love to tailor communications to the needs of our clients. We know it would drive engagement with investment and pensions, and improve outcomes.”
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com
