FCA confirms ‘targeted support’ will launch in spring 2026 – what will it look like?

The financial regulator, the FCA, has confirmed that a new form of group-based financial advice, called ‘targeted support’, will be available to consumers from April 2026.

What is ‘targeted support’?

In a nutshell, targeted support is a new kind of help that will be offered to customers of financial firms. The help will not be personalised for individuals, but instead will be tailored around the customer’s circumstances based on the wider ‘segment’ they are in. For example, people nearing retirement age or those with large cash savings.

Firms will basically be able to provide support when they have ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe that stepping in and offering help will lead to better outcomes for the customer than if they did not provide support.

How will that look in practice?

For a regular saver or investor, targeted support might be offered reactively or proactively. Let’s look at a couple of examples of how it could look in real life.

Imagine you’re nearing retirement and you aren’t sure whether you should transfer your pension to a different provider.

With targeted support, you could log onto a financial service website, find a section dedicated to pensions, and see a straightforward guide that outlines your options based on your situation. It might suggest consolidating your pensions for simplicity, or highlight specific investment products that suit your retirement goals.

Or, you might receive an email or notification from your pension provider outlining your current pension situation, such as your current fees and pension performance, and the email may include a link to a tailored guide that highlights potential next steps, such as reviewing other investment options or consolidating your pensions.

This help is designed to encourage savers to take steps to improve their financial situation, without directly offering personalised advice.

Firms will begin applying to be able to offer targeted support from March, and customers should start seeing it come into play from later in the spring.