market views

According to research reported in last month's COVER, many IFAs have poor protection market knowledge. Do you agree and what should be done about it? Do we need a dedicated protection exam?

Some providers are increasingly targeting workplace and employer based routes to market. Is this going to become more common and should advisers be doing more in this area?

Leaving aside the question of advice, do you see simple protection products as a threat to IFAs or a stepping stone for clients? Should IFAs sell them alongside fully featured products?

Can you see a change in focus for the FSA's replacement, following its renaming to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), rather than the previously suggested Consumer Protection and Markets Authority (CPMA)?

The Pensions Bill has begun its reading in Parliament. Will the creation of the National Employment Savings Trust open the market to businesses never before involved in providing financial support to their employees and create opportunities for advisers...

Aviva has unveiled its protection TV advertising campaign. Is this the chink of light that the industry needs to maximise consumer awareness and engagement, and will it prompt further moves by insurers either individually or collectively?

Are you afraid that when the RDR arrives the public will perceive advisers as charging fees for all products and so not consider coming to you for protection advice?

Given the potential growth of hybrid health and protection policies, the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries (AMII) has said it is open to expanding its remit to the protection market (although it has no plans to do so at present). Would this...

Has the government's long awaited spending review focused the publics' mind on protection and health insurance to any meaningful degree, and do you think the industry will capitalise on it?

With providers and the government taking a greater interest in health provision through the workplace, should IFAs become more active in the health and welfare of those individuals in their group business?