What advisors can’t afford to do, Gay said in an interview, is to sit back and do nothing in the hope that the UK regulator’s package of reforms is not going to go through. The measures, such as labelling advisors independent or restricted, and new mandatory qualification requirements, are due to come into force at the end of 2012.

While Gay said there were elements of the RDR that “need improvement”, he did not elaborate on what these were. The RDR has attracted criticism on many fronts; one concern that advisors expressed is that they may have to demonstrate that they are considering instruments like structured products in order to prove a “whole of market approach”, despite the fact that they may not feel comfortable in recommending such investments. Others have argued that the “restricted” advice label has negative connotations which may make it sound inferior to clients when this is not necessarily the case.

Gay also emphasised the importance that AIFA speaks with one voice as much as possible and not have its influence diluted by factionalisation – no easy task when the trade body represents such a diverse sector. “The big danger through a period of change is that the constituency we serve becomes fragmented and, when that happens, policymakers lose respect. When policymakers lose respect, we lose influence,” he said.

“This is not just about a current set of reforms. This is about the ability to influence policymakers year-on-year. I would not want to see our sector so traumatised by the next few years of reform that we are not in a position to create a concerted influence. When we operate as much as possible from a consensus, that is when we are at our most influential.”