Targeted support is a new category of regulated help, live in the UK since 6 April 2026, that lets authorised firms give "ready-made suggestions" to groups of consumers who share common characteristics, without carrying out a full individual suitability assessment. The FCA calls it a "once-in-a-generation change." It sits between generic guidance and full regulated advice, and is designed to reach the roughly 23 million UK consumers currently underserved by the advice market.
Key takeaways
- Targeted support went live on 6 April 2026 following the joint HM Treasury and FCA Advice Guidance Boundary Review, the biggest reform of the advice and guidance landscape in over a decade.
- It allows firms to deliver suggestions designed for consumer segments (people with shared needs or circumstances), not bespoke recommendations for one individual.
- It is only available for pensions and retail investments, and firms need a specific variation of permission from the FCA to provide it.
- The Consumer Duty still applies in full, alongside product governance (PROD) rules, and firms must clearly label the service as "targeted support."
- Providers must segment clients, design suitable ready-made suggestions per segment, and monitor outcomes, which is an operational and data challenge as much as a regulatory one.
Why did the FCA introduce targeted support?
The UK has a long-standing "advice gap." Only about 9% of UK adults received regulated financial advice in the last year, and the FCA estimates that around 23 million consumers are underserved by the current markets for advice and guidance. Full regulated advice is thorough but expensive to deliver, which prices out consumers with smaller portfolios or simpler needs. Generic guidance, by contrast, cannot point someone toward a specific course of action.
Targeted support is intended to fill that middle ground. It gives firms a lawful way to say, in effect, "people in a situation like yours often do X", helping consumers make better pension and investment decisions without the cost of a full advice process.
How is targeted support different from financial advice?
The defining difference is the individual assessment. Regulated advice under COBS 9/9A requires a firm to understand a specific client's circumstances, their knowledge and experience, financial situation, capacity for loss and objectives, and make a personal recommendation suitable for that person.
Targeted support does not require an individualised assessment. Instead, the firm identifies a segment of consumers with shared characteristics and offers a ready-made suggestion appropriate for that segment. A useful comparison:
- Guidance, factual information and options, no steer toward a specific action ("here is how drawdown works").
- Targeted support, a suggestion designed for a group ("customers holding their pension fully in cash near retirement often consider moving to a diversified default").
- Full advice, a personal recommendation for one individual after assessing their circumstances ("based on your capacity for loss and goals, I recommend this specific portfolio").
Because it is not full advice, consumers must be told clearly that the support was designed for a group of people, not tailored to them personally.
What are the rules firms must follow?
The FCA has set proportionate but real obligations. Firms providing targeted support must:
- Hold the permission. Firms apply for a variation of permission through Connect; the free Pre-Application Support Service (PASS) helps firms prepare.
- Define consumer segments with shared financial needs, objectives or characteristics, granular enough to be useful, but not a full personal profile.
- Design suitable ready-made suggestions for each segment, which may include the suggestion to do nothing.
- Comply with product governance (PROD) rules covering how products are designed, approved and managed.
- Communicate clearly, explicitly labelling the service "targeted support," explaining the basis for segmentation and the limitations of the help provided.
- Monitor and review outcomes on an ongoing basis, without an individual suitability assessment, and keep records to support supervision.
Crucially, firms must not steer consumers toward particular products for commercial reasons, and the Consumer Duty underpins the entire regime.
Who is already offering it?
Large providers moved first. Aviva and Legal & General both secured FCA approval early, with initial use cases focused on pension customers, for example, members whose retirement savings sit fully in cash, where inflation quietly erodes value. This signals that the biggest players see targeted support as a strategic priority, not a compliance afterthought.
For independent advice firms, the opportunity is different in shape but potentially larger in proportion: a route to serve clients (and prospective clients) who fall below the threshold for full ongoing advice, and to stay connected to the next generation before a full advice relationship is warranted.
Is targeted support a threat or an opportunity for IFAs?
Both, depending on infrastructure. A March 2026 Opinium survey of 200 IFAs found that 46% believed access to targeted support would make consumers more likely to seek independent financial advice, while only 19% saw it as damaging to demand for regulated advice. The consensus among industry leaders is that it acts as a bridge to full advice rather than a substitute for it.
The real dividing line is operational. Delivering targeted support profitably means being able to segment clients at scale, generate suitable suggestions per segment, evidence Consumer Duty outcomes, and do all of it without the manual overhead eating the economics. Firms running six or more disconnected systems will find that the hard part isn't the regulation, it's the capacity to execute.
Frequently asked questions
When did targeted support go live?
The regime took effect on 6 April 2026, after the FCA finalised its rules in February 2026 and opened the permission gateway in March 2026.
Does targeted support replace financial advice?
No. It is a distinct service that sits below full advice. It cannot give a personal recommendation based on an individual's full circumstances, and firms must tell consumers the support was designed for a group.
Do firms need FCA permission to provide targeted support?
Yes. Existing authorised firms must apply for a variation of permission for the new regulated activity. The FCA's Pre-Application Support Service (PASS) is available to help.
Which products does targeted support cover?
Pensions and retail investments only. It does not extend to other product areas.
Does the Consumer Duty still apply?
Yes, in full. The Consumer Duty and product governance (PROD) rules underpin the targeted support regime, and firms must monitor consumer outcomes.