Vulnerability identification is partly process and partly skill. The process bit is the easier half — at every meaningful interaction the firm runs through the four drivers (health, life events, resilience, capability), asks the open questions that surface them, and records the answers in a structured field on the client record. The skill bit is harder. Hearing what's not said. Distinguishing a transient life event from an enduring vulnerability. Adapting without being patronising. The articles below are the practical guidance for the adviser doing the work.
The cluster anchors in FG21/1 and the FCA-ICO joint guidance on vulnerability data. Each piece carries a named author and reviewer and is refreshed quarterly. Read our editorial policy for the sourcing standards.
For the broader regulatory picture see the Regulatory hub. For the year-2 outcomes monitoring context see the Consumer Duty cluster.
Articles in this cluster
How to identify a vulnerable client
The four FCA-defined drivers, the questions that surface them, GDPR-compliant recording, and the adaptations that work.
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Consumer Duty year 2 — outcomes monitoring
Where vulnerable-client outcomes sit in the year-2 annual board report, and the segment-level reporting the FCA expects.
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About the authors
Eliot Jones (DipPFA, CCIBS) anchors the vulnerable-client cluster as a practising wealth manager with first-hand experience of the meeting-room work the rules describe. Matthew Hull (CFA, MSCI) reviews — bringing portfolio-construction perspective on how vulnerability flags should shape ongoing recommendation discipline.