Concern over mis-selling

In reference to the article The Money Roundtable: Do long-term savings products serve their customers or their sellers? (February 7), I think that this is definitely a valid conversation.

In my opinion the products are not the issue. It’s about the selling of them by unregulated, commission-hungry advisers, who do not sufficiently describe the product features.

If they explained the fees and potential pitfalls of early encashment, then most clients would substantially reduce the amount they were willing to commit to this kind of plan in order to ensure that it remained affordable and practical.

There are more appropriate ways to save short- to medium-term cash, such as offshore bank accounts platforms that can be accessed without penalty and do not carry the burden of commission.

However, without commission, who can spend the time needed to set these up and turn a profit? In the United Kingdom, the abolition of commission has created an advice “gap”, where advisers cannot afford to spend the time to help savers begin their journey, as any upfront fee charged to the client is not available. (If a client has not saved until this point, the likelihood is that he won’t have funds to pay the adviser for his time in setting the plan up.)

More transparency and a more holistic diverse use of other (more liquid) products, alongside the regular savings plans, would be a good start. James F, Dubai