Another best practice is to flex your training and coaching solutions.
Time is a precious commodity and one of the principal reasons firms use services such as our enable service. It is also because they know that their team member is getting trained and coached on areas pertinent to them and their role.
A blanket approach does not work. I support advisers with listening and questioning skills, their ability to articulate the value of what they do (a key attribute with consumer duty), business planning and how to widen their professional network and intergenerational approach.
With business owners, it could be managing change and transition, root cause analysis, building confidence and relationships, or recruitment and consolidation. The list is endless and evolving.
A case of back-to-basics
The majority of those working in financial planning will be glad to see the back of 2022.
But it does ask some serious questions of wealth advisers and their training needs. It has been relatively straightforward to sell risk-based investments over the past 10-15 years with interest rates at an all-time low and cash not really a viable option.
There are a number of advisers who for years have only been focusing on fund and portfolio performance in annual reviews with no real focus on either new/top-up business or the client’s plan (cash flow modelling).
Suddenly, they see income down by 15-20 per cent, clients wanting to know why their investments are performing as they are and no strategy to write new business to make up the shortfall.
For advisers new to our profession, it will be a case of back-to-basics where you will need to engage and educate clients on the benefits of long-term investing, utilise all of the tools at your disposal to evidence how you will help the client to achieve their plan and demonstrate your competence and professionalism as an adviser in a challenging market.
So how will consumer duty affect adviser training?
The impact will be huge. RDR was the about up-skilling advisers and greater transparency, the senior managers and certification regime put the onus on firms to make sure that advisers were fit and proper – a huge part of this first-class coaching, training and supervision. We are now fully focusing on the consumer and the outcomes delivered.
There are significant training needs linked to key elements of consumer duty so I have chosen the following three:
1. Avoid causing foreseeable harm
Much has been documented in the wealth space around capacity for loss, use of cash flow modelling and detailed discussions around a client’s knowledge and experience.
However, an adviser has the duty of care to discuss protection with every appropriate client.
Firms need to incorporate protection discussions into their advice process with the outcome documented in the suitability report.
