Royal Bank of Scotland is cutting more than 550 jobs. It plans to cut 220 investment advisory roles and 200 protection advisory jobs. Apart from this, it will cut more than 100 jobs in some other portfolios. The bank has decided to limit face-to-face investment advice to customers with at least £250,000 in investment assets. Previously advice was given to those with more than £100,000 to invest. According to the bank, the retraction from face-to-face advice was partly due to a drop in demand for advice in-person, which had been facilitated by regulatory developments including the retail distribution review (RDR). In the lead up to the RDR, the bank cut over 600 financial planning roles, around half the service across the country, but created 350 new jobs in the process. The bank said the demand for face to face investment advice is changing. The customers increasingly want to bank using digital technology. As a result, the bank is scaling back face-to-face advisers and significantly investing in an online investing platform that enables to help a new group of customers with as little as £500 to invest, it said.
