Advice or guidance? The need for clear distinction post-AGBR

The joint Advice Guidance Boundary Review (AGBR), led by the Treasury and the FCA, is exploring how to redraw the regulatory boundary between financial advice and guidance. The goal is to ensure more people can receive timely, affordable help to make informed financial decisions.

For platforms and other firms, this represents a significant opportunity to provide more targeted support to customers without stepping into regulated advice. It’s a positive step toward reducing the size of the advice gap, which continues to leave many without access to the help they need.

Advisers may find that clients are receiving more detailed or targeted information from multiple sources and will need to consider how that then feeds into their planning and advice process.

Consumer Duty remains central to how firms navigate this space. The standard is high, as all firms must avoid foreseeable harm and ensure customers understand the decisions they’re making. This applies whether someone is receiving regulated advice or interacting with a guidance journey.

In this evolving landscape, platforms will play a more proactive role. Many already offer, or are developing, interactive tools that support retirement planning, contribution modelling, or goal tracking. These tools are typically accessible by both advisers and clients and do not constitute advice, as they do not consider the full picture or make personalised recommendations. However, they offer a valuable source of guidance and insight that can inform client understanding and support the adviser’s role.

This is where the distinction between guidance and advice becomes critical.

Rather than acting as a substitute for advice, targeted guidance from platforms can complement the adviser relationship. It will help clients feel more informed, more confident, and more engaged in the advice process. By improving financial literacy and prompting clearer conversations, platforms can support stronger, more collaborative planning.

For advisers, this highlights the importance of maintaining clear communication with clients about the differences between guidance and advice, particularly when platform tools become part of the client experience. Platforms are not there to lead clients in a particular direction but to reinforce key messages, support decision-making between reviews, and ensure products are administered efficiently and compliantly.

Crucially, the advice gap, though reduced, will remain. Many individuals still cannot access, or are not yet ready to pay for, full regulated advice. Well-designed guidance journeys on platforms have the potential to reduce the size of this gap, giving more people confidence to engage with their finances safely and meaningfully.

The regulatory environment continues to evolve rapidly. Consequently, the need for clarity has never been greater. Platforms and advisers both have a role to play in ensuring clients know when they are receiving guidance or advice, and what protections apply in each case. The integrity of the client journey depends on keeping that distinction crystal clear.