Standard Life, unbiased.co.uk, the Institute of Financial Planning and The Personal Finance Society have teamed up to create an industry-led guide to what the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) means for the end customer.

It has been designed specifically with advisers in mind and how they can support their clients through RDR.

The 12-page guide – ‘the new approach to financial advice’ – illustrates how financial advice has been evolving, the rule changes and what they mean for the customer. It also goes through a six-step advice process from initial contact to the review plan, detailing all the activity which goes on behind the scenes as well as what the customer sees.

It also includes customer case studies.

“There’s been a lot of debate in the industry about who should be responsible for educating the consumer on the changes afoot with RDR,” said Dave McGovern, Standard Life’s head of retail marketing.

“The industry has been living and breathing RDR for the past 6 years but the consumer is, in the main, unaware. We cannot expect to take the consumer with us if we don’t engage with them effectively. Communication and education plans should be a priority for the industry as a whole. ‘The new approach to financial advice’ complements and supports the recently published FSA consumer guide to the changes.

“We began our initiative to engage the public on the Value of Advice by teaming up with unbiased.co.uk on a consumer-facing media campaign which will run until the end of the year. We hope this new guide will be a useful tool for advisers to help them explain the changes to existing and potential clients.”

Karen Barrett, chief executive of unbiased.co.uk, added: “With the RDR implementation date now only four months away, we as an industry need to ensure that we are not leaving the most important element in the RDR process behind – the consumer.

“The words Retail Distribution Review mean a lot within the financial services industry but to date the RDR ‘tag’ has little meaning for consumers, which is why Standard Life’s guide ‘The new approach to financial advice’ is a welcome move. It’s vital to use the opportunity RDR presents to talk to consumers about why advice is important and how to ensure they are getting the best advice for their needs.

“We believe Standard Life’s new guide is a powerful tool to help explain the ‘new’ financial advice landscape to consumers, helping to promote the benefits and value of independent financial advice to consumers.”