Compliance is a very important word at Milford & Dormor Financial Planning. At its most basic level it means that every piece of advice that we give must depend on the appropriateness to you, our client, given your attitude to risk, your age and life circumstances and the law. Many technicalities flow from this in terms of how we keep confidential records, in how we send information to you and in terms of who we are able to speak with about your confidential financial information on your behalf.

In the UK all regulated financial advisers adhere to FCA  (Financial Conduct Authority) rules and although it’s easy to get bogged down in detail, especially in a rapidly developing economic climate – (did I just think ‘Brexit’ ?) the core principles have been at the heart of Milford & Dormor Financial Planning since its inception. So what are these ‘consumer outcomes’ as defined by the FCA ?

There are six consumer outcomes that firms should strive to achieve to ensure fair treatment of customers. These remain core to the Milford & Dormor Financial Planning client experience and what regulators expect of us.

Outcome 1: Consumers can be confident they are dealing with a firm where the fair treatment of customers is central to the corporate culture.
Outcome 2: Products and services marketed and sold in the retail market are designed to meet the needs of identified consumer groups and are targeted accordingly.
Outcome 3: Consumers are provided with clear information and are kept appropriately informed before, during and after the point of sale.
Outcome 4: Where consumers receive advice, the advice is suitable and takes account of their circumstances.
Outcome 5: Consumers are provided with products that perform as firms have led them to expect, and the associated service is of an acceptable standard and as they have been led to expect.
Outcome 6: Consumers do not face unreasonable post-sale barriers imposed by firms to change product, switch provider, submit a claim or make a complaint.

As the friendly face of financial advice these outcomes have high status inside our office as well as for our clients. Compliance is not a dirty word at Milford & Dormor Financial Planning, in fact, we love it, not only does it mean that we know that we are delivering excellence at every level it also means that our values are shared by regulatory authorities. That’s a great place to be!