MGAM – Product Oversight and Governance

 

The Financial Conduct Authority is committed to ensuring regulated firms’ have in place and maintain, robust product oversight and governance processes.

Product oversight and governance refers to the systems and controls firms have in place to design, approve, market and manage products throughout the products’ lifecycle to ensure they meet legal and regulatory requirements.

Good product governance should result in products that:

  1. meet the needs of one or more identifiable target markets;
  2. are sold to clients in the target markets by appropriate distribution channels; and
  3. deliver appropriate client outcomes.

MGAM places its customers at the heart of its business. The Company takes its responsibilities with regard to product oversight and governance very seriously and is committed to conducting its business fairly, honestly, professionally and in the best interests of its customers.

MGAM expects its staff and third parties to adopt the same high standards and behave in a manner that is consistent with applicable legislation, regulations and expectations from supervisory authorities.

Within MGAM our Product Oversight and Governance is encompassed within our Product Lifecycle Management Process.

We recognise that the principles of Treating Customers Fairly and customers’ wants and needs, should be at the heart of the proposition and product development process and ensure that customer needs are fully researched, recorded and target market is defined.

Target Market customer needs are met through the product design and are reviewed on an on-going and continuous basis.

Through their Lifecycle, all products will be subject to robust oversight, management and:

  • have a clear Owner and those with delegated authority will have an appropriate level of seniority, experience and skill
  • designed around identified and genuine customer needs and customers’ reasonable expectations on an on-going basis
  • represent fair value to customers, at outset and on an on-going basis
  • have a clearly defined target market, which is communicated to distributors
  • distributed through appropriate channels
  • initial and on-going literature/communication materials will be appropriate,
  • managed and serviced in line with customers’ reasonable expectations
  • monitored to ensure risks are identified, understood, prioritised and acted upon.

We carry out regular policy wording reviews to ensure clarity of wordings and that the overall proposition continues to meet TCF standards and customer needs.

We respond to any potential ambiguities, exposures or emerging issues that may be identified for example internally; through business queries, claims processes and unfair contract term reviews.

Ongoing management of the product and its key metrics are reviewed regularly at our Product Governance Forum; these include claims, complaints and any MI needed to monitor product risks.

We carry out product risk reviews which are performed regularly on all products. These focus on identifying key customer risks and mitigations and carry a residual risk rating of high, medium and low.

The actions are carefully monitored and reported centrally to the Compliance Committee.

The Compliance Committee focuses on operational risks (FCA regulation in particular) and reviews the status of new and amended products and propositions against the POG process.

All future product developments will encompass TCF principles when assessing how we can improve the product for customers and follow the guidance within our POG guidelines.

BY clicking on the tiles below, you can access the out put from the Product Oversight and Governance review for each product.