Welcome to Hoxton Wealth, the new home of Hoxton Capital

Placing Good Client Outcomes at the Centre of Financial Planning

Aligning Your Wealth with the Life You Want to Lead

Lifestyle Financial Planning • Consumer Duty – Our Commitment

Financial planning is not simply about selecting investments or using tax allowances efficiently. At its core, it is about supporting the life you want to live and the choices you want to have in the future.

Lifestyle financial planning places your goals, values, and long-term priorities at the centre of the process. Rather than beginning with products or performance targets, it starts with understanding what matters most to you. Only once those objectives are clear do we design the financial structure intended to support them.

At Hoxton Wealth (UK) Ltd, Consumer Duty is not treated as a separate initiative. It is embedded within the firm’s advice process, governance framework, and culture. This page explains what Consumer Duty means and how it shapes the way advice is delivered.

What Is Consumer Duty?

Consumer Duty is a regulatory standard set by the Financial Conduct Authority. It applies to firms providing financial services to retail clients in the UK.

The Duty requires firms to:

Act to deliver good outcomes for retail clients

Avoid causing foreseeable harm

Enable and support clients to pursue their financial objectives

Ensure products and services represent fair value

Consumer Duty strengthens accountability. Firms must be able to demonstrate how their services meet these expectations in practice.

For clients, this provides additional reassurance that advice must be structured around long-term interests rather than short-term transactions.

Acting to Deliver Good Outcomes

A key feature of Consumer Duty is the focus on outcomes rather than processes alone.

Historically, regulation emphasised disclosure and suitability. While these remain essential, Consumer Duty requires firms to look more broadly at whether clients are likely to achieve appropriate financial outcomes given their objectives, risk tolerance and circumstances.

At Hoxton Wealth (UK) Ltd, delivering good outcomes includes:

Conducting thorough fact-finding before making recommendations

Assessing risk tolerance and capacity for loss

Stress-testing financial plans through scenario modelling

Ensuring recommendations are proportionate to client objectives

Providing ongoing review services where agreed

Good outcomes cannot be guaranteed, particularly where investments are involved. However, structured, suitable advice improves the likelihood of long-term alignment between financial decisions and client goals.

Avoiding Foreseeable Harm

Consumer Duty requires firms to identify and mitigate foreseeable risks to clients.

Foreseeable harm may include:

Recommending unsuitable levels of investment risk

Overlooking capacity for loss

Failing to explain product limitations

Structuring withdrawals in a way that risks depleting pension funds prematurely

Charging fees that do not represent fair value

Hoxton Wealth (UK) Ltd addresses these risks through:

Structured suitability assessments

Clear documentation of advice rationale

Transparent fee disclosure

Ongoing monitoring and periodic review

Avoiding harm also involves declining to recommend solutions where they are not appropriate.

The Four Consumer Duty Outcomes

The FCA identifies four key outcomes under Consumer Duty. These provide a framework for assessing how firms interact with clients.

1. Products and Services

Products and services must be designed to meet the needs of a defined target market.

For Hoxton Wealth (UK) Ltd, this means:

Providing advice aligned with UK domestic retail clients

Ensuring recommendations fall within regulatory permissions

Avoiding products that are unnecessarily complex or inappropriate

Monitoring the ongoing suitability of solutions

The firm does not advise on defined benefit pension transfers or pensions with safeguarded benefits, reflecting regulatory boundaries and risk considerations.

2. Price and Value

Charges must represent fair value in relation to the service provided.

Consumer Duty requires firms to assess whether fees are proportionate to:

The complexity of advice

The time and expertise required

The benefits delivered

The ongoing service provided

At Hoxton Wealth (UK) Ltd:

All fees are disclosed in writing before implementation

Adviser charges are separated from product charges

Ongoing service fees are explained clearly

Periodic reviews assess whether services continue to deliver value

Clients are able to make informed decisions based on full cost transparency.

3. Consumer Understanding

Information must be clear, fair and not misleading.

Financial planning can involve technical language, regulatory detail and long-term assumptions. Consumer Duty requires firms to communicate in a way that enables genuine understanding.

The firm supports this by:

Using plain English in client communications

Explaining key risks clearly

Providing written Suitability Reports

Allowing time for questions before decisions are implemented

Providing cost illustrations where required

Clarity reduces the risk of misunderstanding and supports informed consent.

4. Consumer Support

Firms must provide appropriate support throughout the client relationship.

This includes:

Accessible communication channels

Timely responses to queries

Clear explanation of next steps

Ongoing review services where agreed

Transparent complaints procedures

Support does not end once a recommendation is implemented. Ongoing engagement helps ensure financial plans remain aligned with changing circumstances.

Independent Advice and Consumer Duty

Hoxton Wealth (UK) Ltd provides independent financial advice.

Independent advice means recommendations are based on a comprehensive and unbiased assessment of the retail investment market within the firm’s regulatory permissions.

This independence aligns closely with Consumer Duty principles, as it supports:

Objective product selection

Cost comparison across providers

Suitability-driven recommendations

Avoidance of conflicts associated with restricted panels

Advice must be demonstrably aligned with client interests.

Governance and Oversight

Consumer Duty requires accountability at senior management level.

The firm maintains internal systems and controls designed to monitor:

Advice quality

Suitability documentation

Charging structures

Client feedback

Ongoing service delivery

This includes:

Regular compliance reviews

File sampling

Staff training

Oversight of communications

Periodic assessment of service value

Consumer Duty is therefore embedded not only in client-facing conversations, but also in internal governance processes.

Transparency and Informed Decision-Making

Clients are entitled to clear information before making financial decisions.

This includes:

Disclosure of risks

Disclosure of costs

Explanation of product features and limitations

Written documentation supporting recommendations

Where projections or cashflow modelling are used, they are presented as illustrative rather than guaranteed.

Transparency supports realistic expectations.

Handling Concerns and Complaints

If a client is dissatisfied with any aspect of service, the firm operates a formal complaints procedure.

This includes:

Prompt acknowledgement

Investigation by an appropriate individual

A written final response within regulatory timeframes

If a complaint cannot be resolved to the client’s satisfaction, eligible clients may refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

This process forms part of the wider Consumer Duty framework of accountability.

What Consumer Duty Means in Practice

In practical terms, Consumer Duty means:

Advice must be tailored and suitable

Risks must be clearly explained

Charges must represent fair value

Clients must understand what they are agreeing to

Ongoing services must deliver what was promised

It reinforces the principle that financial planning is a long-term relationship built on transparency and trust.

A Continuing Commitment

Consumer Duty is not a one-time compliance exercise. It requires continuous assessment and improvement.

Hoxton Wealth (UK) Ltd remains committed to:

Reviewing service structures regularly

Monitoring client outcomes

Enhancing communication clarity

Maintaining independent advice standards

Ensuring regulatory compliance

The objective is not simply to meet minimum standards, but to maintain a structured approach aligned with long-term client interests.

Important Information

This page is provided for general information only and does not constitute personal financial advice or a recommendation.

The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invest. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Eligibility for the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme depends on individual circumstances and regulatory criteria. Compensation limits and rules are set by legislation and may change.

Hoxton Wealth (UK) Ltd (Company No. 11180844) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 586130). Registered office: 101 New Cavendish Street, London W1W 6XH.

Hoxton Wealth (UK) Ltd does not advise on defined benefit pension transfers or pensions with safeguarded benefits.

Learning Resources