Proving good client outcomes remains a challenge under Consumer Duty
This is article 6 in our 6-part series which explores the operational challenges shaping growth for wealth management firms across the UK. Developed from our work alongside ambitious firms, it brings together key themes, pressures, and priorities we’re seeing across the market.
Consumer Duty has made evidence a day-to-day for operations teams. Royal London and the lang cat’s 2025 Advice Gap report found that 50% of advisers have stopped serving some clients as a result of Consumer Duty, while 38% said it has made serving clients with lower investable assets harder, and 25% said it has made it much harder.¹
That pressure has not eased. A 2026 FT Adviser survey found that 90% of firms see keeping and supporting existing clients as a top priority, while more than half said Consumer Duty is their biggest concern for the year ahead.²
Regulators are seeing the same strain in practice. In its March 2026 review of Consumer Duty board reports, the FCA found that some firms still did not have strong enough data to support their conclusions or give governing bodies confidence that obligations were being met.³ In a further update, it also noted that some firms continue to present lots of data without clearly showing what it says about customer outcomes.⁴
That points to a wider reality. The challenge is no longer only whether firms are trying to do the right thing. It is whether they can clearly show how service, communication and engagement lead to good outcomes.
The pressure builds when evidence sits across systems
Most firms are already doing the underlying work to a high standard. Clients are being contacted. Documents are being shared. Service activity is happening. The difficulty comes when the evidence of that activity sits across email threads, separate systems, and disconnected processes.
That matters because the FCA is looking closely at whether communications genuinely help customers understand their position and make informed decisions. In its 2026 review of consumer understanding, the FCA said 12% of adults, around 6.3 million people, had limited understanding of the financial products they held, while 3 in 10 said their preferred communication channel had been withdrawn, causing difficulty for most of them. ³ When firms need to evidence good outcomes, the quality and accessibility of communication becomes part of the outcome itself.
Why fragmented records weaken oversight
The operational challenge is often straightforward:
A document may have been sent securely, but the wider context sits elsewhere.
A client interaction may begin in one channel and continue in another.
The service may be right, but the evidence is harder to review without having to piece the journey together afterwards.
This is where governance becomes harder than it should be. Back office teams spend more time checking what happened, where it happened, and whether the record is complete enough to rely on. Consumer Duty raises the standard here because oversight is not just about having evidence somewhere. It is about being able to trust it.
What stronger oversight looks like
For most firms, the answer is not adding more controls on top of a fragmented setup. The more useful step is to make the record part of the workflow itself.
That means creating a more controlled environment for communication, document sharing, and interaction, so the audit trail is built as work happens rather than assembled afterwards. The FCA’s 2026 review points in the same direction. It said good practice includes clear ownership, regular review, and actions that are tracked and follow through.
It also found that some firms still rely on approaches that are inconsistent or not well joined up, making it harder to be confident that communications are helping customers make informed decisions.³
What this looks like in practice
Moneyinfo clients Barnaby Cecil wanted communication to feel simple and familiar for clients, without losing control of the record behind it. With Moneyinfo, they were able to achieve this:
“Using Moneyinfo our clients get the WhatsApp style experience, we have control over the content and meet all of our regulatory requirements.”
Communication that feels natural.
A clearer audit trail for the firm.
More confidence in how interactions are being managed and evidenced.
Tom Skinner, Founder at Barnaby Cecil
This doesn’t just help with compliance. It’s also what clients expect.
Before that, Tom and his team were dealing with WhatsApp, text messages, and other distributed communications, which he described as a compliance headache. Moving to a more structured digital environment gave the firm a more controlled way to communicate, with a record that was easier to rely on.
How well can your firm evidence good outcomes under Consumer Duty?
Join our Industry Insights Webinar: 6 opportunities wealth managers must be aware of.
It’s a practical way to step back and see where pressure is building across the business. We’ll look at six common problem areas that often lead to inefficiency, inconsistent service, and growing compliance strain. If even one sounds familiar, this session will help you see what’s really going on and where to focus next.
Looking to prove good client outcomes with confidence?
Then join our webinar on Friday, 22nd May, 10:00 - 6 Operational challenges Wealth Managers can’t ignore.
It is a practical way to step back and see where pressure is building across the business. We’ll look at six common problem areas that often lead to inefficiency, inconsistent service, and growing compliance strain. If even one sounds familiar, this session will help you see what’s really going on and where to focus next.
Ready to review your current setup now?
Book a discovery call to identify where evidence is being weakened by disconnected processes, and see how Moneyinfo supports a more structured and defensible client servicing model.
Peak Performance. Unlocked.
Sources:
¹ https://adviser.royallondon.com/articles-and-guides/research/lang-cat-advice-gap-2025/
² https://www.ftadviser.com/advice/2026/01/15/advisers-prioritise-client-retention-amid-consumer-duty-pressure/
³ https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/good-and-poor-practice/consumer-duty-board-reports-good-practice-areas-improvement
⁴ https://www.fca.org.uk/news/blogs/year-2-consumer-duty-board-reports-progress-and-what-comes-next