Targeted support for investors and savers

Targeted support is a new category of regulated help with pensions and investments. It lets an authorised firm suggest what a group of customers in similar circumstances might do, without giving those customers full personal financial advice. The purpose, as the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) puts it, is "to bridge the gap between general guidance and fully bespoke financial advice"¹.

The regime is run by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates financial services in the UK. The FCA gateway for firms applying to offer targeted support opened in March 2026, and from 6 April 2026 the FSCS may be able to pay compensation to someone who received unsuitable targeted support and lost money because of it¹. Targeted support can only be provided by firms that hold the specific FCA permission for this activity².

For a consumer, the practical points are these: a suggestion under targeted support is aimed at a group, not at you as an individual; it is not personalised advice; and if the firm that gave it fails, you may be protected up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm¹.

What targeted support is: help for groups of people like you

Targeted support is a form of regulated support designed to help groups of customers with similar needs or circumstances to make informed decisions about their pensions and investments¹. The idea is that a firm can identify a group of customers in a common position, for example people approaching retirement with money in a pension, and give that group suggestions that would be reasonable for people in those circumstances.

This sits between two things consumers already know. On one side is general guidance: information about products and options that does not address your situation at all. On the other is full financial advice, where an adviser looks at your individual circumstances and recommends a specific course of action for you. Targeted support occupies the ground in between, and the FSCS describes its purpose in exactly those terms: "The purpose of targeted support is to bridge the gap between general guidance and fully bespoke financial advice"¹.

For the consumer, the group basis matters in two ways. First, the suggestion you receive is one that the firm considers reasonable for people like you, which is a stronger form of help than plain information. Second, because the firm is not looking at your individual position, the protection that applies if the support turns out to be unsuitable is framed around what a firm could reasonably say to that group, rather than around what was right for you alone. The FSCS may pay compensation from 6 April 2026 if you received unsuitable targeted support and lost money because of it¹.

Targeted support is not personalised advice

The boundary between support and advice is the heart of this regime, and the FSCS states it plainly: "However, targeted support is not personalised advice. It does not take account of an individual customer's specific situation"¹.

That has practical consequences for what you can expect. A firm offering targeted support may suggest, to a group, that people in certain circumstances might consider a particular course of action with their pension or investments. It will not have weighed your other savings, your debts, your tax position, your health or your family circumstances in the way a financial adviser giving regulated advice must.

It also matters for what the firm is allowed to do. The approval of financial promotions is not itself a regulated activity, as a Treasury committee report noted in 2021⁴, and the world of investment information contains plenty of material that carries no regulatory status at all. Targeted support is different: it is a regulated activity, and a firm needs the specific FCA permission to provide it². That permission is what brings the complaints route and the compensation scheme described later on this page into play.

If what you want is a recommendation based on your own circumstances, that is regulated financial advice. The differences between execution-only services, targeted support and advice, and what each costs, are covered in execution-only, advisory and discretionary services compared and how much does a financial adviser cost?.

How targeted support compares with guidance and full financial advice

The three levels of help differ mainly in who they are addressed to, and that difference drives everything else: what the firm must do, what it can say, and what protection you have afterwards.

General guidance is information about products, rules and options. It is not about your situation, and it does not tell you what to do. Much of what appears on providers' websites and in public information, including the FCA's own free, easy-to-understand guides about pensions, sits at this level⁵.

Targeted support adds the group dimension. A firm with the FCA permission can suggest a course of action to a group of customers in similar circumstances, such as people of a similar age with similar pension holdings. The suggestion is more concrete than guidance, but it is still not about you as an individual¹.

Full financial advice is fully bespoke to one person. An adviser assesses your circumstances and recommends specific actions for you. Advice is a regulated activity in its own right, and if it turns out to be unsuitable, the complaints and compensation routes that apply to advice come into play, as covered in mis-sold investments and bad investment advice.

For consumers weighing which level to use, the trade-offs run in both directions. Guidance is widely available and usually free, but it leaves every decision with you. Advice is tailored to you, but it is a service you generally pay for, and the question of cost is covered at how much does a financial adviser cost?. Targeted support sits in between: firmer than guidance, cheaper and more accessible than advice, but not about your individual situation. Which level suits a particular person depends on their circumstances, how complex their finances are, and how much weight they want to put on a suggestion that was not made for them alone.

What targeted support can help with: pensions and investments

The FSCS describes the subject matter of targeted support as pensions and investments: it is "designed to help groups of customers with similar needs or circumstances to make informed decisions about their pensions and investments"¹.

Within pensions, some of the decisions targeted support can address are ones consumers already face with limited help. The FSCS, which covers a range of financial products if a UK-authorised financial firm fails, including deposits, insurance, investments, pensions, mortgage advice and certain other regulated services, has published a set of key questions to ask your pension provider when considering where to put your money⁶. Group-level suggestions from a firm with the targeted support permission are a different route to the same end: better decisions at points where many people in similar positions face the same choice.

One area where official guidance already directs consumers to FCA information is defined benefit pension transfers. The Pensions Regulator requires trustees of defined benefit schemes to provide members with a link to FCA information on considering a pension transfer from a defined benefit pension⁷. Transfers out of a defined benefit scheme are a high-stakes, one-way decision, and the existence of that requirement shows how regulators treat the boundary between information and individual advice in this area. The FSCS also handles claims arising from defined benefit transfer advice, where product and adviser charges are capped at 1.25% in line with FCA guidance when calculating redress⁸.

Within investments, targeted support can extend to decisions about investment funds and how money is held. The FSCS's guidance on investment protection stresses that the particular activity the authorised firm is carrying out for you must be regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the FCA for protection to apply⁹. Related pages on this site cover investment funds, where to hold investments and investment risk and your attitude to risk.

Which firms can offer targeted support

Targeted support can only be provided by firms that hold the specific FCA permission for this activity². This is not a service any company can simply add to its website: a firm must apply through the FCA gateway, which opened in March 2026, and be granted the permission before it can lawfully provide targeted support¹.

For consumers, the permission requirement is the anchor for everything else on this page. The complaints route through the Financial Ombudsman Service and the compensation route through the FSCS both depend on the firm having been authorised and carrying out a regulated activity. The FSCS covers a range of financial products if a UK-authorised financial firm fails, including deposits, insurance, investments, pensions, mortgage advice and certain other regulated services⁶, and it only covers financial services firms that have been authorised by the FCA or the PRA to do business in the UK¹¹.

The FSCS is funded by levies on financial firms authorised by the FCA and the PRA¹², and its compensation cover is aimed primarily at private individuals and small businesses, as its founding consultation set out¹³. If a firm regulated by the PRA or the FCA goes out of business, the FSCS can compensate its UK customers, subject to its rules and limits¹⁴.

Because the regime is new, the list of firms holding the permission will build up over time from the March 2026 gateway. A firm that offers "support", "help" or "suggestions" with investments without the permission is not offering targeted support in the regulatory sense, and the protections described on this page would not apply to what it says.

Checking a firm holds the targeted support permission

The FSCS advises customers to check the Financial Services Register to confirm that a firm held the targeted support permission when they received the support¹. The register is searchable by firm name, and the FCA also provides its Firm Checker, a tool to help consumers check whether financial services firms are authorised and have permission to sell products and services³.

The FSCS sets out the checking process in steps¹⁵:

1. Check your provider is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
2. Find out if the particular activity that the authorised firm is carrying out for you is regulated by the PRA or the FCA.

The FSCS's own protection checker is based on the FCA's Financial Services Register, which you can search yourself to check if your firm is authorised¹⁶. You can also use the online FCA register or telephone the FCA consumer helpline, which is 0800 111 6768¹⁷.

The Financial Ombudsman Service adds a scam-awareness point worth acting on: use the FCA's Firm Checker to confirm the firm is authorised, and check that the contact details match those listed, to avoid scammers pretending to be a real firm¹⁸. Scammers commonly impersonate authorised firms, so a firm found on the register is not the same as a caller or email that claims to be that firm.

For a fuller walkthrough of the checking process, see using the FSCS investment protection checker, and for what happens when a firm fails, what happens if an investment platform or pension provider fails.

Complaints: the firm first, then the Financial Ombudsman Service

If you have a complaint against a targeted support provider that is currently trading, you may be able to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service¹. As its how-to-complain guidance puts it, "You need to do this first, or we can't get involved"¹⁹.

The process, drawn from the Ombudsman's own guidance, runs as follows:

1. Make a formal complaint to the firm involved, setting out what went wrong and what you are seeking.
2. Give the firm the opportunity to respond. The Ombudsman only looks at complaints the business has had an opportunity to deal with first²¹.
3. If you are unhappy with the firm's decision, or the firm does not respond within the time limits, fill in the Ombudsman's complaint form.
4. A case handler is assigned to investigate and may ask you for more information²².

The FCA's own guidance to firms reflects the same structure: consumers may choose to complain to the firm and seek redress from it, and refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if the firm does not satisfy the complaint and it is appropriate to do so²³.

The route splits depending on the firm's fate. If the firm is still trading, the Ombudsman is the destination. If the firm has gone out of business, the complaint becomes a compensation claim through the FSCS, because the adviser must have gone out of business for the FSCS to be able to help, and it must have been regulated by the FCA at the time it gave the advice²⁴. The two routes are covered in more detail at does FSCS protect financial advice? and consumer protection in UK financial services.

FSCS protection: up to £85,000 per person, per firm

For all types of targeted support claims, you are protected up to £85,000 per eligible person, per firm². The same £85,000 per person, per authorised firm limit applies to investment business, mortgage advice and debt management generally¹¹.

Two conditions govern whether a claim succeeds. First, the firm must have gone out of business, and it must have been regulated by the FCA at the time it provided the targeted support¹. Second, the activity the firm was carrying out for you must have been regulated by the PRA or the FCA⁹. The FSCS can only protect you if the firm was authorised by the PRA or the FCA and if your investment was a regulated product¹⁰.

The deposit limit is worth noting because it is different: the FSCS protects up to £120,000 per person or company, per authorised firm, for deposits, against the £85,000 that applies to investment and targeted support claims¹¹. The limits apply per firm, so money with two separate authorised firms is protected up to the limit against each one.

Where FSCS protection stops is just as important. It does not cover poor investment performance as such; it covers claims arising when an authorised firm fails and the activity was regulated. It does not cover unregulated investments, a boundary covered at does FSCS cover unregulated investments?. And it does not cover firms that were never authorised: the FSCS can only protect you if the FCA has authorised your pension provider²⁵. The FSCS's research found that 61% of people say they are more likely to seek regulated financial advice if the adviser is FSCS protected, with only 5% disagreeing²⁶, which is a measure of how much this protection matters to consumers deciding whether to seek help at all.

Why targeted support exists, and free help alongside it

The regime exists because of a gap many consumers recognise. Full financial advice is tailored but costs money and is not accessible to everyone; general guidance is free but leaves every decision with the individual. Targeted support is the FCA's answer: a regulated middle layer in which firms can help groups of customers in similar circumstances make informed decisions about their pensions and investments, without the cost of full advice and without pretending to be advice¹.

For anyone considering whether to use targeted support, guidance or advice, the free options remain available whatever a firm offers. The FCA produces free, easy-to-understand guides about pensions⁵, and its Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768 can help with checking a firm's status¹⁷. The FSCS publishes sets of key questions to ask a pension provider when considering where to put your money⁶. The Pensions Regulator requires trustees to point members of defined benefit schemes to FCA information on transfer decisions⁷. None of these is a recommendation, but each is free and independent of any firm selling a product.

The choice between the levels of help is a personal one, and the facts to weigh are set out across this site: what investing involves, how investment funds work, what financial advice costs, and what protection applies if a firm fails. What targeted support adds is a new, regulated option in between, with a complaints route through the Ombudsman and compensation up to £85,000 per person, per firm, if the firm that gave it goes out of business².