It is an industry built on personal relationships and face-to-face meetings; but covid-19 has pushed the financial advice sector to catch-up with the rest of the world.
While some back office functions have warmly embraced ever-improving technology, there has not been a similar wholesale rush by advisers. This is likely driven by their clients being older and less tech-savvy.
But firms have had to adapt to the restrictions that the pandemic placed on them and the majority have not only coped but actually thrived in the “new normal”.
Thankfully, with the NHS’ tremendous vaccination effort, the UK is near the end of its long lockdown – but are firms ready for the UK to be unlocked?
Neil Moles, Progeny chief executive, said: “I think many firms understand they are facing a watershed moment right now. The pandemic has shown us that we can change quickly if we want to and it will take a toll on those businesses who have refused to adapt or, even worse, who seek to go back to where they were before the pandemic.
“If we don’t progress and challenge the status quo, we risk the financial advice industry disappearing completely in a few years’ time. We have no option but to innovate and push things forward ourselves, driven by improving service, experience and delivery for our clients.”
Preparation
Each business will work differently as we exit lockdown, with its own strategy and model.
Tim Sargisson, chief executive of Sandringham Financial Partners, said: “Our office will reopen fully on the Monday 5 July 2021.
“We will offer a hybrid and flexible working environment. Staff are split into teams who will be allocated two days each week when they will be required to work from the office. Hot desks will be available on other days should they wish to work more days in the office.”
Helen Blackmore, group human resources director at Succession Wealth, said: “In 2020, we surveyed our nearly 600 colleagues to understand their working preferences – 85% said that they wanted to have some flexibility, 5% said they wanted to be in the office full time and the remaining 10% didn’t see the need to go to an office.
“As such, as we get ready to reopen our offices, we are looking to move to a blended model of working which will not only continue to promote a work/life balance, but also further promote a team-based environment where our colleagues can work collaboratively.
“We are hoping to reopen our offices by the end of June, so it is likely that there will be a transition period until the end of September for colleagues to prepare themselves and their families before they start an agile working pattern.”
Gemma Harle, managing director of Quilter Financial Planning, said: “Going forward, for some, the office will be viewed as a place to facilitate certain aspects of work, such as collaboration with other colleagues, workshops or meetings, rather than the only location that our colleagues attend in order to carry out all aspects of their work.
“Over the past six months, we’ve been working with employees and managers across the business to really understand what a modern, flexible, agile workplace looks like and now we’re ready for this to become a reality.”
Mental health
The pandemic has been one of the most challenging situations of the modern world.
Working from home may be a great concept for some, for others it can make them feel alone and isolated, so firms have to come out of lockdown with a plan to help staff with mental health issues.
David Pugh, chief strategy and commercial officer at The Fry Group, said: “We’re conscious of the need to create a more manageable environment for our team. For us, well-being is a holistic concept and not just a series of programmes.
“As part of our appreciation of the stresses of the last year, and the change in the way we will all work in the future, we’ve launched a mental health awareness campaign across the business, and now have a team of trained Mental Health First Aiders who can act as peer support to colleagues.
“Flexible working needs us to manage the workloads of our teams more responsively, so we’re giving space to ensure our teams are empowered and that we role model effectively.
“There’s a real need for greater empathy and compassion to create workplaces that realise the full potential of their people during and beyond the crisis. More than ever, we hope to deliver bold and effective leadership and a willingness to change and work differently to emerge stronger from the pandemic.”
Client care
Aside from staff morale and office space, firms also need to make sure they are prioritising clients.
Sally Plant, head of financial planning at the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), said: “Arguably, everyone has been vulnerable at some point in the pandemic, many also had time to reflect with potentially a shift in their aspirations.
“So, client care, simply checking in regularly has been at the forefront of planners and paraplanners minds.
“Perhaps businesses now need to look at how they can grow their capacity internally to meet clients’ needs and growing consumer demand on the profession.”
Keeping the faith
The changes made in the coronavirus pandemic may have been costly but many will undoubtedly continue to be useful as we come out of lockdown.
David Inglesfield, chief executive at IWP, added: “We know that many clients are now quite happy dealing remotely by Zoom and DocuSign.
“We are currently seeing a significant uplift in new business, despite the fact that this is almost all still being done remotely.”
Quilter’s Harle added: “Client surveys conducted by one of our advice businesses show that clients are split on their preference for face-to-face or remote meetings.
“Therefore, it is likely that advisers are going to provide advice in a more varied way to suit the desires of their clients. As restrictions ease, we will look to take advantage of the efficiencies of video technology where it benefits the customer.”
Future
The impact of the coronavirus will last for many years and this is no different for the advice sector.
Sandringham Financial Partners’ Sargisson said: “In the same way that the internet has driven more of us to shop online, ultimately to the detriment of our high streets, coronavirus will drive a similar change in client behaviour towards the provision of financial advice.
“Clients will demand that firms and advisers continue to deliver advice remotely. This change will be to the detriment of the adviser who insists on trying to maintain the familiar face-to-face approach. Video conferencing will become the standard way of running meetings for some time to come and possibly forever.
“For individual advisers to be successful going forward, we must recognise that face-to-face meetings will quickly become the exception rather than the norm.”
CISI’s Plant added: “Zoom-based client relationships are no longer deemed a second rate option, some clients prefer short regular updates, or a combination of those and the traditional reviews. The opportunity, therefore, to have greater national and flexible client base, as UK-based financial planners may now provide guidance to UK clients who are spending more time overseas, for example, owing to the zoom experience.
“The benefits of having a globally recognised qualification, like the CFPTM, as the standard to represent those values, ethics and quality planning to meet these relationships.”
IWP’s Inglesfield said: “Perhaps the most lasting impact of lockdown on the industry will be the way that it has made clients re-assess their financial needs and objectives, given the uncertainty that covid has brought for employment, for health, and for people’s wider family and caring responsibilities.
“Such uncertainty highlights the importance of long-term financial planning and protection.”
