MorganAsh has updated its adviser tool help businesses better manage and evaluate consumer vulnerability.
As businesses prepare for the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty, the firm has updated its MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) and its Resilience Rating while tailored questions around potential coercion have also been added as part of the vulnerability assessment.
It said this means firms can identify how vulnerable each client is to the potential risk of coercion or susceptibility to scams, with results contributing towards their overall resilience.
The MARS system has also added more consumer protected characteristics to help advisers with their diversity reporting.
The Consumer Duty requires all firms to report on protected characteristics, reinforcing the Equalities Act.
Andrew Gething, managing director of MorganAsh, (pictured) said: “The updates draw on both user feedback and the FCA’s final guidelines for Consumer Duty, giving firms a reliable system to not only meet the demands of regulators, but best protect the vulnerabilities of their customers.
“Coercion of vulnerable people is of increasing concern, especially as scams become more sophisticated and more frequent.
“As with the entire MARS system, we plan to develop this further over time to best meet the needs of protection advisers and their clients to help ensure they can always comply with Consumer Duty.”