But given the current macroeconomic environment, where interest rates are at, or close to, zero, where returns on cash in the bank are minimal and economic recovery remains in a critical period, investors are becoming more specific about what they want from their investments.

This is demonstrated by the spate of new products that have come to market in recent years targeting specific risk levels or volatility. It’s been partly driven by the Retail Distribution Review’s increased focus on risk attitudes and the meeting of clients’ needs, and partly because of the macroeconomic environment.

Equity markets may have rallied, but the memories of the financial crisis and inevitable recession remain clear in people’s minds, and as a result attitudes to risk and the way advisers can identify this, and product providers can develop solutions to meet it, are coming to the fore.

Meanwhile, regulatory and policy changes, most notably in the form of the pensions overhaul announced in the Budget in March, have opened up new opportunities and challenges for investors.

With retirement potentially stretching 30 years, no longer being required to buy an annuity can offer almost unlimited flexibility with your pension pot, but also potential risk. And with many people still unprepared for retirement, the issue of income replacement for older investors and the pension reforms themselves, are something both advisers and investors need to become better acquainted with.

As Jasper Berens, head of UK funds at JPMorgan Asset Management, notes: “Advisers will have to raise their expertise to meet a newly opened market, requiring them to gather significant context across capital markets, investment strategies, and financial planning – not to mention no single client will have the same set of circumstances.”

The investment challenges also include deciphering and comparing the strategies that are available for investors, whether it is income funds, multi-strategy options, absolute return or tackling the differences between risk-rated and risk-targeted offerings.

While the post-RDR world was meant to make things more transparent and produce a ‘level playing field’, the combination of macroeconomic developments, investor risk attitudes and policy changes, mean advisers still have plenty of work to do in arriving at the right solutions for their clients.

In this guide Financial Adviser and Investment Adviser, in association with our sponsor Aviva Investors, outline the key issues facing investors and advisers in the post-RDR world and the array of products before them, to try and make comparing strategies that little bit easier.

Nyree Stewart is features editor at Investment Adviser, Melanie Tringham is features editor at Financial Adviser