An IFA that is seeking to grow his business in 2013 has said he is planning to extend his business solely by recruiting graduates, stating that existing advisers bring too much risk and baggage with them and can push up PI premiums.
In an interview with FTAdviser, Adrian Murphy, associate partner at Murphy Financial, said he is keen on growing the company but does not want to take on advisers who are currently in the advisory business.
He said: “We will have a growth in the client team but not the advisory team. Advisers bring risk, it’s a fact.
“If you are taking on 20 advisers you are taking on a hell of a lot of risk - and your [PII] fees go up through the roof for starters. That’s a nightmare, whereas if you just have a team of four or five advisers and a team of 15 support staff then it’s much easier to control.
“We are looking to grow through graduates rather than people who have been in the industry. At management level, when we require it, we will want a more experienced person but generally I want to bring a few graduates into paraplanning and then if they want to go into advice, and we think they are right for it, then they can go into advice.”
Campaigns for a long-stop have been increasing of late, with many in the industry agreeing that advisers should not be carrying these liabilities forever.
The Association of Professional Financial Advisers said that advisers are backing its ‘Fair Liability’ campaign as the government puts the finishing touches to its draft Financial Services Bill, Chris Hannant has said.
Apfa said the campaign, backed by Zurich and unveiled in Financial Adviser on 1 March, has generated a wave of support from the industry.
Murphy Financial is not looking for people with client banks, highlighting that they have spent the last five years segmenting their client base and “we don’t want to go through that again”.
Mr Murphy said: “We have really cut down the client bank in terms of who is who, but to be honest, we don’t see many of them.
“What’s happening now is we are getting a lot of referrals from our professional introducers and that’s beginning to take its toll on our client team, especially with a lot of change going on as well.
“So you are managing change and managing also volumes of work and this isn’t a particularly busy time of year so we will need more people the way things are going.”
