Markland Hill Wealth has ambitious plans for growth, and to achieve these goals, the strategy is to educate the clients of the future.
"Clients don't walk into IFA businesses generally these days," explains David Dawson, director at the firm.
"Either they come by a referral, or you've got a very good website and a good digital presence. Alternatively, you are going to the clients."
It's the latter option that MHW has made an integral part of its growth strategy - an endeavour to transform from just under £0.5bn Aum to £2bn in the near future, with the help of an investor, which it hopes to attract.
The business calls it educational marketing.
It means going into workplaces, schools, sports clubs and charities with strategically placed content that informs people and draws interest in its services from prospective clients.
"I just don't like the idea of sitting waiting for clients to come to us. It just doesn't sit comfortably with me as a business model," says Dawson.
"I think you either are growing a business or it's going backwards, even if you don't realise it.
"And we can't go backwards. I don't want us to go backwards, so the only way to go forward is to go to where people are, rather than wait for people to come to us."
Finding a niche
The key to success for any advice firm wanting to go down the educational marketing route is having a clear strategy of who the target client is and what content would be useful for them, Dawson says.
"If we are controlling the content of our workshops we are subliminally controlling the inquiries that come in as well."
Dawson explains: "We've really looked at niches of clients that we want. Generally [we want] a younger generation of clients that are either wanting to save heavily, can save heavily, or are asset rich already.
"So then you're a bit like, well, okay, how do you find those clients? So sports people, business owners or intergenerational wealth, I guess, are really the areas to target, [and] charities.
"What we've decided to do is develop educational material for each of those areas."
For example, to generate interest, the advice firm would send the manager of their sports branch, a former professional footballer himself, into clubs, where he would start talking to athletes about his former money habits and how advice helped him make better choices.
Likewise, the business would create training content for trustees in charities, teaching them about topics such as different asset classes, the difference between short-term investing and long-term investing, and ESG options for investments.
They would also educate accountants on the areas where tax planning and financial planning cross over, such as on capital gains tax or inheritance tax.
