Advisers should work through case studies of their clients to identify how best to work with vulnerable clients, according to Evelyn Partners.
The firm looked at the Financial Conduct Authority's rules around vulnerable clients and how advisers can comply with them in a webinar on Thursday (July 11).
Chief investment manager at Evelyn partners, Chris Kenny, said teams can learn from how they have acted with vulnerable customers in the past.
He said: "Sometimes it's interesting to work through a few case studies with your own clients internally to think about where there may be less obvious vulnerability characteristics and how advisers, particularly your best practitioners, have reacted to that.
"Bringing to life circumstances from your own client base really makes it a much more relevant and actionable topic for most people."
Though, when it comes to recording the vulnerability of clients, Kenny said there is no magic solution.
He said: "Given data suggests about a third of consumers are potentially facing some vulnerability characteristic any moment in time, recording every single person who might have a vulnerability characteristic wouldn't be a very efficient approach.
"What's a bit tricky for us as an industry, of course, is what should I record and when?"
Kenny suggested advisers should use a checklist for vulnerability and have it somewhere it can be easily referred to when speaking to clients.
He added: "It's about thinking about clients who are facing some vulnerability at the moment in time.
"Although we're feeling our way as an industry and having conversations with the regulator about what's correct, not recording anything would be problematic."
Back in March, the regulator announced it would review firms' vulnerability processes.
It said it would look into whether firms understand consumer needs and whether their staff have the necessary skills as well as product and service design, communications and customer service, and whether these support the fair treatment of vulnerable customers.
In 2017 the FCA indicated it would conduct a review looking solely at age-related issues.
It re-committed to doing this once more in 2021, when it published its guidance on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers.
But the regulator has now said it will look more broadly at how firms treat customers, including the elderly, in vulnerable circumstances.
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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