Scottish Life: Personal touch puts us on your team
Dealing with advisers on a bespoke basis, accepting that every adviser is different and has a different way of doing things, is at the centre of Scottish Life’s business ethos.
Isobel Langton, chief executive of the intermediary division at Scottish Life’s parent company, Royal London Group, said: “People are our business and we have put them at the heart of everything we do, advisers and the end customer.”
Scottish Life has continued to move away from the technocentric approach it espoused before 2005.
It now has dedicated case and new business managers who are charged with making sure they get to know advisers. Ms Langton said: “A good measure of our success is that they – our business managers – will be considered part of the team.”
Scottish Life aims to give advisers the support to do what they do well, not forgetting that those who service advisers also need support.
“We are committed to the adviser market, and because we are a pensions specialist we understand the unique needs of their business.”
This means Scottish Life is already gearing itself up to meet next year’s pensions freedoms when, it believes, advisers will need a lot of hand-holding.
“There are going to be big changes and big challenges. But what is so exciting about advisers is their ability to deal with change. You only have to see how they adapted to game-changing events like the retail distribution review to see how adaptable and entrepreneurial they are.”
Partnership: Making it easy to do business with us is what we are about
To say that the last year has been busy and interesting for providers, advisers and their clients is an understatement, said Partnership’s chief operating officer.
Jane Kennedy said for the industry to thrive and provide the type of products that are truly beneficial, organisations need to make sure they are easy to do business with, and work with advisers as they seek to service their customers and build their companies.
She said: “We are honoured that advisers continue to work with us, and we want to provide a service to them that makes it easy for them to do what they do best, advise.
“The next year will be challenging, but as we develop more adviser partnerships, better systems and new improved products, we intend to remain true to the culture that we have built over the past 20 years. The human touch will remain integral to our business model, and we will listen to feedback from advisers and deliver new innovative ways in which to support them.”
Axa Wealth (inc. Elevate): There’s still a lot to do in the way of support
The impact of RDR combined with incoming pension changes mean advisers need support more than ever before, according to Axa Wealth’s chief executive.
