Pimfa, the trade association for wealth management, investment services and the financial advice and planning industry, has called on the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to delay the implementation of Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) for portfolio management by 12 months, to allow firms time to implement the final rules.
In a statement, Pimfa said it was supportive of the intended purpose and spirit of the proposals put forward by the FCA but said “they fail to sufficiently take account of the unique requirements of the market for portfolio management and of retail investors.”
In response to an FCA consultation, Pimfa said it had significant concerns around the timing of the implementation.
“Given those concerns, [Pimfa] considers it may be unrealistic to believe the final SDR rules for portfolio management will be agreed by October. Even if they are, the final implementation deadline of 2 December does not provide adequate time for firms.”
“Firms in our sector will find it challenging to continue to work with some smaller fund houses and have them represented in their portfolios because these have not met the SDR labelling standards yet and will not adopt the labels for another year or two.
“This would unintentionally reduce choice of investments for portfolios and may affect end client outcomes.”
