Criterion is involved in a campaign called #LogYourLoAPain, which encouraged advisers, planners, and wealth managers to count letter of authority’s (LoA), to provide a more detailed picture of the current situation. Led by Pension Lab, the initiative received a total of 59 entries, representing 880 financial advisers, with research revealing that approximately 3.9 million LoAs are sent annually across the industry, costing £442 million.
The whitepaper highlighted several inefficiencies with LoA processes and urged firms to be part of the solution, and not the problem.
As a result of this campaign a new action group, Fix LoA Action Group (FLAG), has been formed to bring the industry together to help streamline and enhance the efficiency of LoAs. Criterion is one of the founding members of FLAG, bringing its extensive expertise in collaboration and industry Standards.
The group is also made up of pension providers, platforms, advisers, master trusts, industry bodies and fintechs, who are all playing their role in trying to improve the process not only for firms themselves, but also to better the system for consumers.
Billy Burnside, Managing Director commenting:
by bringing together a balanced representation of all affected parties and facilitating greater collaboration, FLAG aims to prioritise and tackle the most pressing issues. The way to achieve this is by working together as an industry. Our structured approach, with focused sub-working groups, will also showcase the benefits that Standards can bring to the LoA process.
If you would like to join this group, please contact Justine Pattullo directly for more information.
