Discussions about vulnerable clients following the introduction of Consumer Duty on 31 July was the most popular thread on the cherry forum in August.

The forum on the cherry website attracts more than 5,500 unique adviser visitors each month, allowing for debate around topics and other key areas.

Cherry said that these discussions clearly show a frustration within the community, appearing to fear that the requirements may well be having the opposite effect to what was intended.

Advisers also commented about their fears of falling foul of the new regulations, as well as suggesting how matters could be improved.

Another popular search on the forum was the demise of Tenet.

Cherry stated that some advisers were initially shocked by the news that a long-established player was selling its network business. This led to threads which discussed the future of networks in general, as well as advisers’ own authorisation strategies moving forward.

Procuration fees were also a popular topic for advisers once again, resulting in discussions about what they felt was a fair fee for a product transfer. This comes at a time when an increasing number of mortgage borrowers are using product transfers because they are finding remortgage options becoming limited due to affordability pressures.

Other topics discussed in August included alleged selling by estate agents, high net worth mortgage brokers and the best networks in the market.

Director at cherry, Donna Hapton, said: "As the cherry broker forum is a trusted arena for intermediaries to discuss matters with their colleagues across the industry, it will surprise no one that Consumer Duty was at the heart of the most popular thread last month.

"Of course, all advisers want to be able to recognise when clients may be vulnerable and act accordingly but there is a substantial degree of concern and frustration over Consumer Duty ‘requirement interpretation’ around vulnerable clients. Not only do advisers fear risks for clients but also for themselves."

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