Warning Against New Advice Platform

Chris Williams, CEO, of Wealth Horizon, has today issued a warning following the launch of Hargreaves Lansdown’s new advice platform for the elderly, which was debuted earlier this week.

 Williams stated that although he acknowledged that customers often could not afford to take financial advice, he did not believe that advice platforms helped with this problem. ‘It is now widely accepted that there are a number of consumers who can no longer afford traditional financial advice yet opening up watered-down ‘advice’ platforms is not the solution, it is only adding to the confusion around what does and does not constitute advice.’

‘A recent paper from the FCA identified that information overload is something that needs addressing. Now is the time that consumers need clear and robust advice, overloading clients with information for them to action themselves will only serve to confuse thousands of investors. Simply providing information, no matter how good, is not a substitute for actual advice and can cause more harm than good to investors who increasingly don’t know where to turn.’

 He finished by stating that ‘Investors need to be able to trust the advice industry and have the option of tailoring advice to their own needs’. However, Williams, who is the CEO of Wealth Horizon, a firm dedicated to providing financial advice, failed to offer a further solution to the issue of investors being inhibited by price from taking financial advice.

 Williams’ comments come following the launch of the HL Retirement Planning Service, which charges a flat fee of £395 plus VAT, earlier this week. The platform aims to offer advice to new retirees who want advice on how to manage their finances without paying the full standard fees, which are estimated to be around £1000. Hargreaves Lansdown, a British financial services and advice firm, have indicated that the service will not offer specific financial advice, but rather will give customers more information on what services are available to them.