'We need an intervention that solves the problem customers tell us they've got'

"There's a reason why we all buy different cars, it's that we all want different things from that car. Customers want different things from their advisers and therefore they should be the determining factor as to what is it that's value in terms of what they pay.

"I worry that if the emphasis continues to be on cost what we do is we actually restrict the choice the customers have and we push them into a box that says the starting point is everything is in passive and we start from there."

The flip side was that advisers were questioning whether they are delivering value, he notes. "Some of the moves we've seen there, the price of platforms etc, are much more realistic now."

carmen.reichman@ft.com