Why is Barclays closing its financial planning group and how will it impact its customers?
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Should I look to switch from Barclays?
chrissiet
1 year ago
Expert Financial Adviser Answer
Darren Smith
answered 1 year ago
barclays were just fined over £7m and order to pay compensation of appx £60m (according to the financial times) for inappropriate advice given to some of its investors.
this might be completely unrelated to closing down the division given that they sold off their life office years ago (they have only been recommending L&G for some time).
others might think that the reason for the closure is that they cannot make enough money from the new RDR regime that the FSA is introducing from 1-1-2013 which will include a higher minimum threshold for advice qualifications.
it is unlikely that many (any) bank will want the cost of upskilling their staff to meet a higher level of education when they wont even be advising on a full range of financial services!
the banks tried to get themselves classed as a special case - not needing to retrain their staff to the new levels, but failed. they also dont like the idea of calling their staff "restricted" advisors because they are worried that it will highlight the fact that they only recommend from a restricted suite of products!
there will be a lot of speculation surrounding this and perhaps no one will ever know the truth. but apparently all the effected staff are being given 6 months redundancy even if they relocate to another division of barclays!
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this might be completely unrelated to closing down the division given that they sold off their life office years ago (they have only been recommending L&G for some time).
others might think that the reason for the closure is that they cannot make enough money from the new RDR regime that the FSA is introducing from 1-1-2013 which will include a higher minimum threshold for advice qualifications.
it is unlikely that many (any) bank will want the cost of upskilling their staff to meet a higher level of education when they wont even be advising on a full range of financial services!
the banks tried to get themselves classed as a special case - not needing to retrain their staff to the new levels, but failed. they also dont like the idea of calling their staff "restricted" advisors because they are worried that it will highlight the fact that they only recommend from a restricted suite of products!
there will be a lot of speculation surrounding this and perhaps no one will ever know the truth. but apparently all the effected staff are being given 6 months redundancy even if they relocate to another division of barclays!
Expert Financial Adviser Answer
Paul Ross DipPFS CII(MP&ER)
answered 1 year ago
It's all about profit and loss and the costs of having a financial services arm is very expensive. Levys to support the FCSC (Financial Compensation Scheme) are shooting up and I suspect that their levy will be higher than most, given the recent fine imposed on them.
However, it is difficult to say whether your policy is okay or not, given that there are no details on it. However, I suspect it is fine as Barclays do offer some very good products. Give me a call or email me directly if you want a more, no obligation, detailed decision
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However, it is difficult to say whether your policy is okay or not, given that there are no details on it. However, I suspect it is fine as Barclays do offer some very good products. Give me a call or email me directly if you want a more, no obligation, detailed decision
