Explainer
What is targeted support?
A plain English explanation of the Financial Conduct Authority’s targeted support rules, what they change, and what they do not.
This site used to be called Targeted Support, after the regulatory term. It is now called Invest for the Future, because the old name meant something precise to the industry and very little to anybody else. The subject is still worth explaining, so it is explained here.
Targeted support was brought forward by the Government and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to help the public take advantage of the better returns available from investing. You can read the Government’s own publication on targeted support.
The questions people ask
- What is targeted support?
- Targeted support is a regulatory permission created by the Financial Conduct Authority. It allows an authorised firm to suggest a course of action to a group of consumers in similar circumstances, without giving each person individual advice. It sits between generic guidance, which cannot suggest anything specific, and full regulated advice, which is personal to you.
- Is targeted support the same as financial advice?
- No. Regulated financial advice takes account of your particular circumstances and results in a personal recommendation, and the firm giving it is responsible for that recommendation being suitable for you. Targeted support is aimed at a group of people who look broadly alike on the facts, not at you as an individual.
- Why was it introduced?
- It was brought forward by the Government and the Financial Conduct Authority, to help the public take advantage of the better returns available from investing. A great many people hold money in cash for long periods without ever getting to a conversation about the alternatives, and full advice is not economic for every sum.
- Does this site provide targeted support?
- No. Unbiased Financial Group LLP does not hold the targeted support permission and is not applying for it. This site provides information only, which is an unregulated activity. Nothing here is a suggestion aimed at you or at any group you belong to.
- Will my bank or provider offer it?
- That is a decision for each firm. Firms could apply for the permission from March 2026 and the regime went live in April 2026. If your provider does offer it, the suggestion you receive will be based on what people in broadly your position tend to do, not on your own full circumstances.
Information, not advice. This page explains a regulatory development. It is not a claim that this firm holds the targeted support permission, and it is not personal advice.