Get Authorised

Do it yourself

• Appointed Representative means you join a network or principal firm that holds the FCA permissions and carries much of the compliance, and often the professional indemnity, while you advise under their umbrella: faster to start, in exchange for an ongoing share of your income or fees. Roughly 65 percent of firms are ARs.
• Directly authorised means you apply to the FCA for your own Part 4A permissions, hold your own compliance, capital and insurance, and answer to the FCA directly. Roughly 35 percent of firms.
• Most brand-new advisers choose AR to be advising within weeks to months under a principal’s permissions; going direct tends to fit once you have scale, want full independence and control, and can carry your own compliance and capital.
• Make the call, and write down why. This is work you do now; when the FCA or network then clears you is on their clock, not yours.

Do it yourself

• Build a shortlist of current, active advice networks, and always confirm each is live on the FCA register before it goes on the list. Names to consider include the Openwork Partnership, Quilter, 2plan, ValidPath, Sense Network, In Partnership and Best Practice.
• Compare them on independent versus restricted status, panel and platform access, compliance and file-checking support, the professional indemnity arrangement, the technology stack included, and the cost model.
• Understand the cost model in full: typically a percentage of your income, or flat monthly fees indicatively around £250 to £500 a month, plus technology, compliance and insurance charges. Get the whole number, not the headline.
• Go through the network’s onboarding due diligence: competence and fit-and-proper checks, financial-stability checks, and evidence of your qualifications. The network’s acceptance, and the FCA’s approval behind it, run on their clock.

Do it yourself

• Assemble the core pack: a credible regulatory business plan, your compliance-monitoring framework, evidence of adequate financial and non-financial resources, and the individuals seeking approval.
• Apply for your Part 4A permissions through the FCA’s Connect system, with the individuals submitted alongside the firm.
• Budget the timeline honestly: the FCA’s statutory windows are up to six months for a complete application and twelve for an incomplete one, and recent new-firm processing has averaged around 110 days.
• Line up your ongoing compliance support for after approval now. The determination itself is on the FCA’s clock; a clean, complete pack simply gives you the best run at the shorter window.

Do it yourself

• Hold or complete the Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning, whose CII version runs six units, R01 to R06, for 100 credits, or an FCA-recognised equivalent such as the LIBF DipFA or the CISI Diploma.
• Obtain your Statement of Professional Standing from an FCA-accredited body: the CII and PFS, the CISI, and the LIBF are the three main ones. The SPS confirms your qualification, CPD and fit-and-proper status, and the accredited body owns issuing it.
• Set up your CPD now, at a minimum of 35 hours a year of which at least 21 must be structured, to keep the SPS live through its annual renewal.
• Do the studying in parallel with the authorisation wait, and confirm any additional qualification your specialisms require before you advertise them.

Do it yourself

• If directly authorised, you are a solo-regulated firm under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime: senior-manager responsibilities, the certification regime, and the conduct rules. In a one-person firm, that is you.
• If an Appointed Representative, SM&CR does not currently apply to you. ARs sit under the Approved Persons Regime, and your network handles the approvals.
• Note the horizon: the government has been consulting on bringing ARs into SM&CR scope, so watch it rather than pre-building for it.
• Either way, identify the individual accountable for the firm’s conduct, since someone always is. Your network confirms what applies if you are an AR; a compliance consultant does if you are directly authorised.