Count down to RDR – Are you having pre-exam jitters?
We are now in the final stages of our report on the opportunities and challenges facing the Life & Pensions industry resulting from the UK’s Retail Distribution Review (RDR– see my June blog entry) and will publish shortly.In total, we have conducted 22 interviews from across both the industry and technology partners supporting the implementation of RDR and surveyed 5 of the top product providers to understand their level of readiness.
What is interesting to me is the seemingly low levels of confidence that some firms have in their own post-RDR business strategy and operating model.Clearly, there is still a lot of uncertainty over what the winning strategies post-RDR might look like and what this could mean for the end consumer.What is clear, however, is that the industry is taking it seriously and that there could ultimately be more than one winning strategy as the market segments further.
Even with all of the good preparatory activity underway across the industry, there is still a feeling of nervousness in the air.It reminds me of taking my exams.You’ve done your homework, you’ve focused on revising the things that you think are important (and probably aligned to what you know best in the hope that it will come up as a question), you have a clear plan in place for sitting the exam…but you haven’t yet sat the exam.Adding to the anxiety, in the case of RDR, the examining body hasn’t yet released all of the chapters in the core reference text from which to revise.Hopefully, the guidance on commission for legacy products and the time-table for cash rebates will be released by the FSA soon.
As we approach the final two months of 2011 and you work through your 2012 budgets and detailed implementation plans, why not join us together with the FSA, Focus Solutions, Altus and AT8 for an additional revision session on the 15th November 2011 at the Barber Surgeon’s Hall?
Follow this link to register Count-down to RDR - Are you ready?