FCA suitability report good practice states that you should use “clear and plain language” and that “overly long reports may reduce a customer’s ability to consider the recommendations being made”.
A good report will cut to the chase and explain concisely the reasons for the recommendation (the reasons WHY) and should not replicate what is contained in other documents, only refer to them.
Supporting information (for example, Glossary of Terms, Attitude to Risk definitions, Fact Find snapshot) should wherever possible be contained in appendices so that the reasons why are not diluted.



Pension transfer advice – assessing transfer risk
Alistair MacDougall Compliance 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, DBAAT, Drawdown, FCA, Pension, Pension Transfer, PI, transfer
It has been well publicised that the FCA has aimed increasingly close scrutiny in the direction of firms that have been providing advice in relation to defined benefit pension transfers. Apparently caught off guard by the then Chancellor’s introduction in the Pension Schemes Act 2015 of what are generally called ‘pension freedoms’, the regulator has […]