I want to take on the banks. Apart from for clients with tens of millions to invest, their advice is often inadequate. In fact, it ranges from sub-optimal to downright poor.
There is a lack of financial planning as little or no thought is given to the client’s long-term objectives and how investments might fit into their plans and objectives. There is also poor or even no use of tax wrappers.
We seek to build partnerships with banks that do understand the value of financial planning, and allow us to focus on what we’re good at without flogging our clients stuff they don’t need.Banks also often like to show how clever they are by recommending complex, esoteric or illiquid investments and there is often an illusion of independence.
Some clients still seem surprised when we explain that, for example, Scottish Widows is owned by Lloyds Banking Group, and that explains why clients have so much of their portfolios in the bank’s product range.
But taking on the banks doesn’t mean going head-to-head. As financial planners, we would be arrogant to assume that we can rival the scope and scale that banks have.
We seek to build partnerships with banks that do understand the value of financial planning, and allow us to focus on what we’re good at without flogging our clients stuff they don’t need. This level of collaboration allows us to offer a personal service to those who the private banks have enough interest to retain, but not enough to service well – the £5m-20m bracket.
Alistair Cunningham is financial planning director at Wingate Financial Planning
