Michelle Hoskin has a vision: financial advice businesses should be run by professional certified operations managers, not their owners or advisers.
Today, she has set the ball rolling to make that vision a reality.
Backed by her existing business consultancy Standards International, Hoskin has launched a network dedicated to business and operations managers and designed to get them trained up, certified and "a force to be reckoned with" in the international financial advice landscape.
The Business and Operations Management Network, or BOMS network, is open to all aspiring or existing business managers who are eager to develop their careers and push the boundaries when it comes to practice management.
The reason behind the move, which was 15 years in the making, is simple, says Hoskin. "They are the future of our profession in terms of turning it into a profession."
She adds: "Paraplanners have now got [a support network], planners and advisers have had it forever, but this is a completely unsupported, undervalued and misunderstood part of our sector.
"What you'll have seen is more and more business managers are becoming managing directors and are appointed as chief executives, and it's because finally the sector is appreciating that when this role is in play, value and potential is unleashed in that business.
"It's so obvious, it's a non negotiable [role]."
A changing industry
It is no secret that the financial advice industry has been changing, not least since the RDR, but even before then.
No longer are firms focused solely around the individual advisers; the emergence of professional advice and financial planning businesses has changed the dynamic of who runs them, who gives the advice, and who takes on the supporting roles.
"What you've now got is financial planners running businesses, proper businesses, and the key to allowing them to do that properly, is the role of business and operations managers," says Hoskin.
But these roles are often misunderstood, she says. And the way this has manifested is in the sheer amount of titles and responsibilities given to them.
"They're called assistants, they're called office managers, they're called executive assistants, or personal assistants, or adviser support.
"You ask any business owner what their business manager does and they'll have no clue, but they just know that they wouldn't be able to do what they do without them."
There are many potential benefits in having a good manager on board.
Better operations managers mean better run businesses, more streamlined operations and less money wasted on things that aren't needed, Hoskin says.
"Everything is just more thought through, because having a business manager is almost like, in my view, and I've seen this over 25 years, it's like putting the key in and unlocking the door, rather than keep banging on the door trying to get in."
