CompaniesDec 1 2014

Personal Touch launches fee structure to reward quality

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Adviser network Personal Touch has introduced a new fee structure for 2015 and put new services onto its panel, the firm’s marketing director David Carrington has said.

Speaking as Personal Touch appointed eConveyancer to its conveyancing panel and integrated the service into Toolbox, the technology platform for members of the network, Mr Carrington said that support fees for firms and advisers have been reduced by approximately 17 per cent.

He said the new fee calculation structure would reward quality among its members, predicting that two-thirds of member firms would pay less overall for their membership in 2015 than they had in 2014.

Mr Carrington added: “Over the past year we have continued our commitment to reduce overall business costs while delivering service improvements.”

Personal Touch will waive the adviser support fee throughout 2015 for any newly recruited advisers to stimulate recruitment. Although an increased professional indemnity premium means there will be an increased recharge, the network will subsidise the cost of this.

The new fee structure will be implemented from 1 February based on each firm’s quality rating and business volumes as of 31 December.

Background

Founded in 1994, Personal Touch now has more than 550 member firms.

This year the network aimed to put quality ahead of quantity by changing the shape of its membership profile.

It increased fees in order to reduce the number of low-volume firms and larger firms which sat outside its desired risk profile, as well as enhancing support for its remaining core membership.

This saw network numbers fall by 42 per cent, however productivity increased and profits went up by 21 per cent.

Earlier this month Personal Touch launched a free online service to allow member firms to gather customer feedback.