Retail investment services: the worst consumer market in Europe

Jan 19, 2012

The 6th Consumer Markets Scorecard published by the European Commission ranks investment as the worst performing consumer market in Europe.

  “Investments, pensions, securities” ranks 51st and last of all consumer goods and services markets in the EU.  The scorecard is based on a multiple criteria study. In particular, retail investment services are scoring worst in terms of comparability.

These findings stress the urgency of establishing  consistent investor information and protection rules whatever the type of retail investment product, and whatever the distribution channel (banks, insures, brokers, financial “advisers”, etc.).
This is the objective of the “PRIPs” (packaged retail investment products) initiative from the European Commission. But consumers are very concerned that the consistency of retail investor protection rules is no longer  priority of the European Authorities as the scope of the PRIPs project is now much narrowed, and as the initial ambition to have horizontal selling practices rules has now been abandoned (see EuroInvestors' latest position paper on this issue).