It is a testament to Andy Ward, general manager, and Adam Armstrong-Butler, my administrator, that my in tray is less full today than it was when I flew away.
We have honed our IT for full paperless, cloud-based working and it has passed a stern test with flying colours. We jointly manage advisory tasks on the excellent Intelliflo Intelligent Office system, which is up-to-date and on track – great team work.
I spend most of the day with a clear diary catching up with our 10-strong financial adviser team and planning for the run through to the Christmas break. It promises to be a busy period. I knock off early to visit Somerset County Cricket Club’s physiotherapist Ian Brewer to try to fix my ‘runners’ knee’, which he promises me he can do.
Tuesday
Today is recruitment day. I meet with Mike Burns from XL Recruitment, who has so impressively been headhunting my staff that I invite him to work with me instead.
We have added seven quality advisers in the past couple of years and we desperately need paraplanner support. They are a scarce commodity in southwest England, but Mr Burns assures me he can help.
We are also looking for at least one more full-time salaried financial adviser and a corporate specialist, so we discuss job descriptions and terms.
He has already passed a number of CVs across my desk and I am enthused. After a quick telephone interview with a financial journalist, it is time to prepare for client meetings in the upcoming days.
Wednesday
From tomorrow onwards my diary is chock-a-block with interviews and in particular for clients who have been waiting to see me in August. Although I have been in telephone contact and video conferencing, many meetings need to be face-to-face of course. The day is spent putting in some ‘hard yards’ assessing the fruits of my admin team’s labour and preparing for those client interviews.
Most days I receive regular telephone calls from our advisers – we maintain the difficult status of ‘general practitioner’ while many firms choose to specialise. This means we have the task of maintaining our technical knowledge across a broad spectrum of client needs and knowing who to turn to for technical support if necessary.
We have various specialties within the team and act as sounding boards for each other. It works well and allows us to act as a single point of contact for all our clients, help them in a ‘joined-up’ way and earn reasonable fees from the full demographic.
We do not target high net-worth clients exclusively. ‘Joe Public’ is our target audience.
Thursday
A rare out appointment with a client of our sister business which deals with wills. Sadly her husband died leaving her with a complex opaque investment portfolio with lots of gaps. We have spent nearly nine months helping the probate solicitor assemble a full picture to allow her to move house, which she has finally achieved having probate granted on the matrimonial home.
Next to advise her on simplifying and derisking the portfolio. Although she is happy with our service, it is clear that if she never saw a financial adviser again it would be too soon. Get the job done and leave her to her life is my task.
Friday
It is the wills business again.
This time Linda Fisher, our wills manager, calls me into an interview with her clients who have an estate of more than £5m, including 20 investment properties and little awareness of inheritance tax issues. We arrange a formal meeting to assess the situation. Our wills business has 2500 clients and the symbiosis with a financial advice business is clear.
Mr Burns has already placed a potential paraplanner in my office for an interview but sadly he does not have the skills for us as broad spectrum advisers, so we shake hands and go our separate ways. Next it is straight into a mortgage appointment for clients who I sent off weeks ago to find a house. They have found one and now it is full steam ahead. Anxious, nervous, exciting times for them, but some great mortgage deals around at the moment.
A frantic end to the week and my in tray is heaving again. It was good while it lasted.
Dave Penny is managing director of Somerset-based Invest Southwest
