Vulnerable Clients Policy
Protecting vulnerable consumers is a key focus for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and we at Kellands fully support this. Our aim is to make financial advice accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial and personal circumstances.
As a company, we seek to conduct all our business in an honest and ethical manner and part of that commitment is to have in place appropriate processes, training and policies to protect our clients, and to put in place all necessary considerations for dealing with each category of vulnerable client.
All our staff have a responsibility to identify when a client is vulnerable, and it is the firm’s responsibility and duty to manage the risk of incorrectly treating a vulnerable client, through the development and maintenance of effective systems and controls.
To achieve good outcomes for vulnerable customers, the FCA expects firms to take action to:
- understand the needs of their target market/client base
- make sure staff have the right skills and capability to recognise and respond to the needs of vulnerable customers
- respond to customer needs throughout product design, flexible customer service provision and communications
- monitor and assess whether they are meeting and responding to the needs of customers with characteristics of vulnerability, and make improvements where this is not happening
Kellands has signed up to the Financial Vulnerability Taskforce. This is a newly created independent representative body covering the Personal Finance Sector whose ultimate purpose is to promote greater UNDERSTANDING, encourage appropriate BEHAVIOURS and establish GOOD PRACTICE in respect of consumer vulnerability.
We have also produced our Vulnerable Clients Policy. Please feel free to read or download it by clicking on the link below.
Our policy guide looks at how vulnerability can fall into any or more of the following four categories – health, resilience, capability and life events – and from that, suggests how our advisers and staff can best carry out a vulnerable client assessment. This includes assessing who may be vulnerable, how to identify a ‘vulnerable client’, and when a client may need additional support.
The aim of our Vulnerable Clients Policy is to ensure that we at all times take the appropriate actions to make sure that we treat vulnerable customers fairly.