The next stage in this process will be ways to make the online investment experience much easier for investors. This is all about customer engagement and offering simple user interfaces through a range of mobile devices. Those companies that succeed will be able to capture data and supply services and goods based on that data. It is not necessarily disruptive, but simple digital delivery to the customer of certain services.
Tisa is currently working closely with the government and the FCA’s Project Innovate team to explore ways to better harness technology across the financial services industry and to ensure that new developments are compliant with the UK regulatory environment. Many innovations from the US cannot be replicated exactly in the UK for this reason.
For instance, this could result in a different regulatory approach which results in bridging the gap between execution-only and full advice. Our technology innovation policy council is in discussion with regulators both in the UK and Europe due to the potential impact of the recently announced European Single Digital Market Strategy and MiFID II Directive. Both of these will impact the development of digital services and their application in the distribution chain of the UK financial services market. We believe that it is essential that regulation allows the deployment of these services naturally alongside conventional regulated advice.
David Dalton-Brown is director general of Tisa