Financial services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial services - Essay Example Their qualifications are monitored and approved by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) which is a regulatory body for the UK financial services sector. There are over four hundred financial advisors in the UK financial services industry, guiding the clients regarding investments in the FTSE, stocks bonds, mutual funds, derivatives and other financial products. However, currently in UK the financial advisors are disappointing their clients by not providing the appropriate advice in the tough times of stock market volatility and economic slowdown. The times when people need their advice the most they are reported not fulfilling their duties promptly. â€Å"Not many people are the fans of the financial advisory industry in its current state in the UK, as most advisors are, when it comes down to it, just salespeople on commission.† (Dunwiddle 2008) Every individual in UK gets investment allowance and they need these advisors to help them with their investment decisions. However , the general impression shows that these advisors increase their wealth based on their clients’ money. Retail banks on UK are technology and service oriented offering customers with greater protection, more choices and competitive rates. The Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, RBS and Barclays are some of the major names in the UK retail banking. Currently UK is witnessing a decrease in the retail banks’ branches and the increase in the Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). â€Å"To operate in the retail markets banks have traditionally required an extensive branch network. However, technological developments in particular the growth of automatic teller machines (ATM) networks, phone/internet banking, mobile phones and interactive digital television has enabled a new type of bank that does not need branches to conduct business. In UK the pioneer was First Direct, which began its telephone bank in 1989 and is an operation of HSBC.† (Buckle and Thompson 2004) Thus these bank s involve advancement of loans, and acceptance of deposits, customer credit services through credit cards and overdrafts etc and many other financial services. As per the requirement of the Bank of England they maintain their required cash ratios and other requirements. They are key players in regulating the money supply and providing customer with a protected, competitive and reliable financial services network in the United Kingdom. b. Customer Expectations v/s Financial Advisors & Retail Banks The financial advisors, who always face the risk of furnishing rosy pictures of investments to their clients, need to put extensive efforts to gain and maintain customer expectations and meet customer expectations. Recently, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been working on Treating Customer Fairly (TCF) and its outcomes and requiring all firms to present correct and proper information. The financial advisors try and validate the information provided to their clients through report s and researches. The appreciation of customer expectation for a financial advisor is difficult because the advice of the advisor does not guarantee success as other factors market and economic are responsible for the outcome of the investment. â€Å"One problem in the investment service industry is that the outcomes of investment decisions are largely beyond the control of investment advisors and investment managers.† (Redhead 2008) Thus in orders to appreciate the customer expectat