True Potential has unveiled a service that will allow advisers using its platform to transfer ongoing servicing of their client banks to True Potential Investments.
Speaking at the True Potential Outlook and Opportunities conference in Manchester today (28 January), Daniel Harrison, managing partner of True Potential Investments, confirmed the launch of its new client servicing programme.
He said the service would to be of particular interest to advisers who are getting ready for their own retirement and need a succession plan, as well as those who are struggling to find new clients due to ongoing service demands.
According to Mr Harrison, by freeing up more adviser time through the new programme, professional advice will become more widely available.
He said: “Advisers can pass over stewardship of their clients when they come to retire, or they can pass over the clients that only require servicing, but with the option to provide advice when it is required.
“For the advisers, there will be no disruption at all.”
This comes as research from True Potential suggested the number of advisers has plummeted from about 200,000 sales advisers in 1990 to less than 23,000 financial advisers today.
This compares to around 150,000 legal professionals and 330,000 accountants.
Back in October the FCA reported in the Financial Advice Market Review input paper that in 2007, two-thirds of retail investment products were sold with professional advice.
This conjunction of professional advice and product sales is also a feature in other countries.
However, in recent years the FCA reported it had seen a decline in the number of financial advisers offering professional advice - from around 26,000 in 2011 to 24,000 in 2014.
A number of major providers have cut back their professional advisory businesses, or left the market, the regulator stated, while the remaining advisers have increasingly focussed on high net worth individuals.
Mr Harrison said: “Although financial advisers could currently be experiencing a boom, the facts are that people are saving less money than ever before in modern times.
“There are approximately 1,000 financial services customers for every qualified adviser, so there is no shortage of a market but advisers are time poor and there are too few of them.”
