Tax planning is hard, but valuable. Cashflow modelling is complex, but useful. Financial planning is critical, if you want to know where you are heading in your financial life.
These sorts of messages – and many others about issues such as platform pricing, understanding risk and diversifying and rebalancing portfolios – should be on billboards across the country promoting advisers, but where are they?
Why are we so shy about telling the world about our value and why are we stuck in the world of thinking 0.5 per cent per annum is the benchmark?
Who on earth came up with 0.5 per cent per annum – seriously, who was it? Provider? Adviser?
How come planners and advisers don’t show their worth on their websites and why do trade bodies not focus exclusively on showing the value of advice rather than messing with industry minutiae?
The industry expects people to pay for advice in pounds – yet we never show the value of advice in pounds?
How can we expect customers to pay for something intangible if we, the professionals, can’t put a value (in pounds) on it?
The value of advice is enormous, so let’s celebrate it, shout about it and give the customer lots of real examples of what it is worth.
David Norman is chief executive at TCF Investment
