The FCA’s upcoming advice guidance proposals will focus on helping consumers understand their choices around pensions, according to the regulator’s chief operating officer Emily Shepperd.

In a speech on Tuesday (26 November), Ms Shepperd told delegates at TheCityUK National Conference that the regulator was working to refine the line between advice and guidance.

The aim is to make the distinction between advice and guidance clearer and to help savers understand their retirement choices.

She said: “We are working to refine the line between advice and guidance, making the distinction clearer to help consumers understand their choices. One of those choices might be around pensions, where we are working closely on targeted support, and ways to increase value. Financial choice could even include investments that offer better returns in the long run, even if they have a slightly different risk profile to more traditional forms of saving.

“Ultimately, we are seeking to build trust through greater consumer understanding - in a way that is mutually beneficial.”

She added that the review could also encourage investment in the UK economy and support wider economic growth.

The Advice-Guidance Boundary proposals were put forward in December 2023 as a way to give more people access to at least some guidance or advice before buying financial products due to the unaffordability of full holistic financial advice.

The FCA said the aim was to, “better ensure there was affordable support for people to navigate difficult financial and investment decisions, to meet a variety of needs, in easy-to-access ways.”

The FCA is to hold round tables with smaller advice firms in the first half of 2025 over its plans to open the door to cheaper, simplified advice services to enable more consumers to access support at an affordable price.

In the first half of next year, the FCA plans to run a series of engagements with firms, including round tables with smaller advice firms; those which typically employ one to five advisers.

The regulator says it will be asking smaller advice firms how "willing" they are to launch simplified advice services. These services would likely offer consumers a cut down advice process for a lower fee.

Ms Shepperd has recently been taking a more prominent public-facing role at the regulator, talking about the future strategy for the regulator.

In her speech on Tuesday she looked at the FCA’s current strategy, which is now in its final year.

She said the regulator is currently focusing on developing its new strategy, including giving all staff at the regulator a change to input.

Ms Shepperd said trust would be a key component in the new plan.

She said: “The FCA wants to enable a fair and thriving financial services market for the good of consumers and the economy. To achieve this, a key cornerstone of our strategy will be growing trust. Trust in us as a regulator. Trust between us and those we regulate. And consumer trust in the financial services they rely on.”

She added that the FCA’s 5-year plan to 2030 would learn from its 3-year strategy coming to an end this year, as well as feedback from the industry.

Yesterday MPs and members of the House of Lords published a critical report on the FCA, branding the regulator ‘incompetent’.

The report called for the FCA to be overhauled and said the City watchdog is "too often failing" to perform its functions.