Some providers have done a fantastic job of embracing Consumer Duty.

These providers, whether they are a platform or an MPS provider, are clear on the products and services they are offering, who their target clients are and also their ‘negative target market’, so the types of clients their products and services are not suitable for.

In fact, most providers probably fall into this camp. There are some really good fair value assessments that providers have carried out, and you can access these through Analyser for the individual platforms and MPS providers you’re interested in.

But there are a handful of providers that seem to have given their Consumer Duty obligations short shrift.

This is something advice professionals might want to take into consideration when they are reviewing the providers they work with.

So how do you know who is doing what when it comes to Consumer Duty?

As with other aspects of due diligence, a lot of it comes down to the quality of the answers you’re getting back from providers, and how comprehensive (or not) their responses are.

For example, if a platform is asked what its target market is and it comes back with ‘advisers and their clients’ with no other detail or context, that should probably ring alarm bells.

Another useful test is whether Consumer Duty information is being provided in a transparent way.

Most providers will make their fair value assessments readily available to planners and paraplanners, usually via their websites.

Yet there are providers who chose to not make these public, opting instead to only share fair value assessments once a firm has contacted their BDM. This essentially requires either a sales conversation or for a firm to have already placed business before that company will share details on the value they provide.

There are clear questions about how you can make a judgement on that basis, and crucially, how you can make the best recommendation for clients if you don’t have all the information at your disposal.

You can find out more about how providers are approaching Consumer Duty through Analyser, including details on target market, negative target market, service and support and how providers deal with vulnerable clients.

For practical support, check out our guide to Consumer Duty, due diligence and suitability in user help, which explains how to apply pre-built Consumer Duty templates to your due diligence reports and provider comparisons.