The chief executive of the PFS has warned that the Financial Planning sector is being ‘strangled’ by ‘inefficient and burdensome regulation’.

Keith Richards attacked the ‘barriers’ restricting consumers’ access to advice, as 75% of PFS members said the cost and uncertainty of regulation and compliance remains their biggest threat over the next 1-3 years.

This has risen from 72% in 2015 and 67% in 2014, according to the PFS 2016 Member Survey, which recorded the views of 1,600.

It is the fifth year in a row that regulation and compliance costs have topped the survey’s list of major concerns.

PFS chief executive Keith Richards said: “The barriers created by inefficient and burdensome regulation continue to strangle the personal finance sector, thereby restricting consumer access to the financial advice marketplace, leaving millions unprotected and left to fend for themselves.”

He said: “As the FCA and government continue to consult on key proposals resulting from last year’s FAMR, I’d urge them to act on the feedback and pragmatic solutions offered by the sector on how best to address the barriers, and introduce meaningful change which will in turn assist millions of consumers in their long-term life planning.”

“Despite the efforts of regulators and government, through the introduction of the FAMR, to assure the sector that it will tackle regulatory barriers and costs in order to help increase access to advice, it is clear there is more to be done through the introduction of tangible change.”

Brexit and a general economic slowdown was the second biggest threat identified by PFS members surveyed (34%). A similar number of respondents identified execution only and online simplified advice as a major threat to their business (33%), up from 22% in 2015.

Complications from implementing EU regulations (29%) and a lack of new talent/available skilled trainees (22%) were also identified as major threats in the short term.

Opportunities arising from the Government’s pension reforms were considered the biggest opportunity for advice firms in the next 1-3 years (59%), followed by referrals from professional connections (48%) and higher professional standards (36%).

While the ranking of the three biggest opportunities remained unchanged from 2015, advisers were much more downbeat about the short-term prospects for economic growth. Just one in five advisers identified economic growth as an opportunity for their business in the next 1-3 years (21%), down from 40% in 2015.