Stephen Gazard, managing director of Sesame Bankhall, has revealed he is in the process of relaunching and simplifying the Bankhall proposition, as he laments a past obsession with compliance services.
Speaking to FTAdviser in the second part of an exclusive video interview, he said: “We have had a fairly convoluted menu of options. I was with a firm on Friday who really reiterated this to me. Whenever they ask for the support it is there but they don’t always know what is there to ask for.
“It is simplifying the explanation of what is there while widening the services. My frustration as an ex-IFA business owner is that I think at the moment Bankhall is too focussed around compliance services.
“There is the ability for us to increasingly be the source of their trusted profession partner, as it were. We have a huge corporate business, within Sesame Bankhall Group, so we are providing outsourced payroll, outsourced human resources technology solutions.”
Mr Gazard also responded to claims that the group has been losing members based on data tracking controlled function approvals, saying that this fails to take account of advisers that have moved to solely advice on mortgages or protection, or that have gone direct with Bankhall.
He said that the vast majority of advisers had chosen to stay with the network despite its move to go restricted, and that the “total population” of Sesame Bankhall had dropped by just 0.6 per cent.
To watch the first part of the video interview on the effect of sales rumours on the group, click here.
