Meet the FVT Board

The FVT Board will help to inform and provide vulnerability guidance to the board of the Consumer Duty Alliance. Its members are:

About the Financial Vulnerability Taskforce

Launched in October 2021, The Financial Vulnerability Taskforce (FVT) is an independent representative body covering the retail finance sector. Its ultimate purpose is to promote greater understanding, encourage appropriate behaviours and establish good practice in respect of consumer vulnerability.

It quickly attracted over 1,000 firms and circa 4,000 users of its Financial Vulnerability Charter.

In July 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its final rules and guidance for a new Consumer Duty (PS 22/9 and FG 22/5).

The FVT Board recognised that the financial services sector would now consider vulnerability within the wider context of Consumer Duty, so the FVT should do the same. Consequently, the Consumer Duty Alliance was created as an overarching body within which the FVT sits.

The Alliance launched on 9 March 2023 as an independent, not-for-profit community interest company aiming to promote the benefits of the FCA’s Consumer Duty and support financial advisers/planners and other professions in its successful implementation.

The ongoing role of the FVT

The FVT remains as a brand and separate entity within the Alliance, to promote greater understanding of vulnerability and help firms develop appropriate knowledge, behaviours and good practice when dealing with clients in vulnerable circumstances.

It will continue to support high professional standards within the financial planning sector by maintaining and promoting its branded Charter, and publishing more Consumer Guides and Good Practice Guides linked to life events that can lead to consumer vulnerability, for example divorce and bereavement.

An advisory FVT Board will provide an ongoing focus on vulnerability and help to inform and provide vulnerability guidance to the Alliance Board.

How the Taskforce can support you

The Financial Vulnerability Taskforce seeks to support the retail finance sector by:

• Providing strategic leadership across the sector in respect of professional dealings with clients and prospective clients in vulnerable circumstances, helping to promote the concept of a ‘safe pair of hands’ in terms of attitude, approach, business processes and outcomes.
• Create a programme of work by soliciting the support of subject matter experts to help create a bank of relevant educational material and ‘opinion pieces’ (held within Guides and Resources).
• Engage constructively with others including regulators and relevant Parliamentary Groups to influence change.

You and your firm can use the Charter to augment the work you're doing to support clients in vulnerable circumstances by supporting the 9 statements of the Taskforce’s Charter. You’ll receive a unique badge and Consumer Guide to help promote your support.

Helping consumers to understand their financial decisions

The Retirement Income Taskforce, chaired by Margaret Snowdon OBE, is part of the Consumer Duty Alliance and seeks to build on the acknowledged success of the Pensions Advice Taskforce.

The consumer is rightly at the forefront of the regulator’s focus and in turn that of the Taskforce.  The Taskforce’s mission is to optimise consumer interest and confidence in interacting with the pension profession in a safe and fruitful way.

For some consumers that interaction is of course rightly going to be through seeking advice.

The Taskforce has recently published a checklist for advisers, sponsored by Legal & General, arising from the FCA’s thematic review.

Helping all consumers find the most appropriate solution

Equally important to the Taskforce are the needs of those consumers for whom seeking and accessing advice may not be their course of action, whether now or in the future. This may be for a number of reasons but cost relative to the value of their funds could be one of them.

They may therefore look for information, guidance or support perhaps using several different avenues. It may be something that they take on themselves or it could be directed through and by their employer or pension provider.

Recognising the evolution and growth of retirement income advice

The Taskforce’s original intention was to retain the Pension Advice Taskforce name but we wanted to embrace the fact that the needs of supporting the consumer have significantly evolved in recent years. Although ‘Gold Standard’ advice for pension transfers is obviously still an imperative, it’s also the case for advice around retirement income. This also complements the FCA’s thematic review for Retirement Income Advice and looks to work alongside their guidance to the market.

Several advice firms have engaged with employers and pension scheme trustees, making a positive case for the provision of advice via the workplace and/or pension scheme. As a result, not only has this sector grown significantly, with potential for much stronger future growth, it has progressed from largely being focused on provision of retirement advice to wider focus on advice throughout the employee life cycle.

Alongside this growth, the FCA’s introduction of “Consumer Duty” seeks to set new and positive standards.  Arguably, these standards would always have been the baseline for any firm or individual delivering professional, properly tailored, value for money personal recommendations, underpinning informed decisions.

The time is right for the Taskforce to help show how the sector can deliver this.

The sector has many willing experts who want to lead the way.  It needs a new, broader partnership to ensure that consumers can navigate a very different future, with longer lifespans, and an increased incidence of ill health at older ages but with less savings and liquid assets.

There are many sources of information support, guidance and advice and many touch points for consumers.

The Retirement Income Taskforce therefore seeks to help link relevant stakeholders to establish good practice and a common framework for the delivery of safe and appropriate information (support), guidance and advice to consumers. Enabling consumers to better prepare for their retirement and the levels of income in retirement that they may expect. 

About The Women's Wealth Alliance

A working group of the Consumer Duty Alliance, the WWA is committed to empowering women through financial education, planning, and coaching. With women projected to hold 60% of UK private wealth by the end of 2025, our mission is two-fold:

• To advocate for greater female representation in the personal finance sector, fostering a more inclusive industry aligned with the UK’s financial growth ambitions
• To support female financial independence and resilience, championing accessible resources to help women confidently manage their financial journeys and achieve their goals.

Attracting more women into the personal finance sector

We are dedicated to attracting more women into the personal finance sector, helping to shape an inclusive future that better reflects the diverse needs and perspectives of its clients and supports the government’s financial growth mandate. Only approximately 18% of financial planners are currently female according to FCA data obtained by a FOI request, and we need to move the dial on this at a much more rapid pace.

Helping women navigate their financial journeys

We aim to showcase accessible, relevant education and resources, enabling women to confidently navigate their financial journeys. By promoting financial planning and coaching, we strive to empower women to take control of their economic futures, make informed decisions that build financial resilience, and achieve their personal and professional goals.

Women, Wealth and the Workplace White Paper

The Women’s Wealth Alliance published its 'Women, Wealth and the Workplace' white paper on 10th November 2025, which includes a roadmap to increase the number of women working in personal finance. You can download the white paper here.

Informed by the survey responses of over 500 women, the WWA’s roadmap begins with:

• Publishing a career guide that demystifies roles and routes for women into the industry
• Developing a professional framework and CPD programme for financial coaching
• Creating a digital hub for development, mentoring, and the sharing of good practice

The paper also outlines actionable steps for advice firms, such as collecting gender data, rethinking hiring practices, and openly promoting female success stories, helping the profession to become more representative of its future clients.

Women in Personal Finance Survey

In June, the WWA commissioned a landmark survey to find out more about women’s career journeys within personal finance and the initial findings are now available - you can download the report here.

One statistic that stood out was that 93% of women surveyed who are currently, or have previously worked in the financial planning role would recommend it to other women. Interestingly, however, only 26% of women surveyed outside of this role would consider it in their future career. More widely, the research reveals a very positive picture of personal finance as a sector for women to succeed in their career journeys, with high average levels of satisfaction around flexibility, support and career opportunities. 

Managed independently by YouGov, the survey attracted 540 responses from women in a wide range of roles across the sector  - including financial planning and coaching, mortgage and protection advice, academy members, paraplanning, compliance and T&C, and support roles. Many thanks to everyone who took part or helped to share and support.

Thanks also to our research sponsors, IBOSS, LV=, Royal London and Quilter, who share the belief in data-led responses to attracting and advancing more women within personal finance. With 60% of UK wealth due to be in women's hands by the end of this year, a more inclusive sector dovetails with the government's growth mandate and the good news is there is no reason why personal finance should not become a sector of choice for women to build their careers.