This is a key finding of the new 1st – The Exchange suitability reporting poll, completed by over 260 advisers last week.
To date, only one in five (21%) advisers have switched to using more efficient, technology-based alternatives, despite the growing cost pressures affecting many adviser firms. This leaves a small number of advisers using a combination of paper and technology.
Feedback from advisers who have used technology-based suitability reporting software has typically shown a 75% increase in efficiency, with a manual report normally taking an hour (60 mins) compared to only 15 minutes using a technology supported process. Based on a typical firm producing 50 suitability reports every week, this amounts to a total time saving of over 37 hours every week.
Although most firms have seen little impact from the new regulations in this area, 8% of advisers believe the FSA’s ‘relaxation’ of suitability reporting has actually made the process more complex, due to the number of report variations now available.
