It was a bad week for Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) CEO Richard Gilbert, who was forced to defend what seemed indefensible. He said IFSA welcomes industry scrutiny, but argued that the report was conducted in the Financial Services Reform Act's (FSRA) “early days” and that since then much has changed.

Mr Gilbert said strong progress has been made with the FSRA regime and investors should “not make knee-jerk decisions based on a single report or statement”.

“It is also equally important that consumers receive strong support from the industry, in the form of quality of advice and comprehensive disclosure around advice and products,” he said.