The firm was launched last July by Caroline Anstee, who has been an independent financial adviser for the last 15 years.
The firm was RDR-ready at launch; Ms Anstee says she has always been remunerated through fees and is an advocate of the transparency the new regime has brought about.
“I wasn’t frightened of the RDR because I’ve always worked on a fee structure so it didn’t make any difference to the way that I work and therefore I didn’t see it as a bad thing or a challenge or anything like that.
“My view has always been that clients pay for advice and you should tell them how much it is, and if clients don’t want to pay they will go somewhere else. That’s the way it has always been.”
On the qualifications front she was less prepared and admits she did not become level four qualified “until the last minute”, blaming this on her busy schedule as she was a one-man band at the time.
She adds that in spite of seeing chartered status as desirable, she is unlikely to be able to find the time to study for this.
“I would love to go chartered but unfortunately I am too busy with clients – if my clients would give me a little bit of a break then I might do one day. I encourage it and I would love for people who work with me to be chartered.”
“I wasn’t frightened of the RDR because I’ve always worked on a fee structure so it didn’t make any difference to the way that I workExpanding horizons
Of the five advisers employed by the firm, three specialise in investments and pensions, while two advise on mortgages. Future growth is concentrated in the latter business area: of the four that are set to join, three are specialist mortgage advisers.
She says the firm is expanding as a direct result of client demand - “we are snowed under” - and in particular as a result of strategic partnerships with a local estate agent to conduct mortgage and protection business, as well as employers and accountants over auto-enrolment advice.
“[Simpsons Estate Agents have] got eight offices and we will be doing between 40 to 50 mortgages a month. We were approached by them and decided to do it.
“We are working with employers and also accountancy practices and payroll. We are working with one particular accountancy practice where we are helping all their clients with auto-enrolment so that is a big project.”
She adds that she would like to bring in paraplanners to help lighten the load, believing that this could also be a way of delivering advice to lower-value consumers.
However, she says that she is finding recruiting a paraplanner to be “an absolute nightmare” as many are not keen to join the financial services sector at the moment.
“Trying to recruit a paraplanner is an absolute nightmare – you try and find good paraplanners – there is no incentive to come in. But unless we bring those paraplanners in we won’t have good advisers for the future either.”
Promoting advice
Ms Anstee claims that the oft-cited lack of a long-stop is not a primary reason that people are not attracted to join financial services and specifically to get into financial advice, claiming that a lack of promotion of the profession within schools and universities is the greater problem.
“If you are giving good advice why would it [the lack of a long-stop] be a deterrent? We are just here to give good advice and if you are following compliance you don’t need to think about it.”
Ms Anstee adds that universities, schools and students do not understand what financial advisers do, whereas they have an idea what accountants and stockbrokers do.
She says she tutors at Sheffield University and that when she talks to people about her job, they want more information as to how they can get into the industry.
“I point them in the direction of the [Chartered Insurance Institute] but the careers people should be understanding what we do more and advise people how to get into the industry.
“I’ve got an intern working with me from Warwick University this summer and he’s interested in finances but all he talks about is joining the big banks to work on investments.
“I am trying to show him that this can be a really good profession and a career but I don’t think we promote it that way in terms of the exams and the professionalism so people aren’t talking about it at universities and sixth form which is quite bad.”
She does, however, believe that recently confirmed changes by the government to the school syllabus, which included lessons on money as part of the citizenship course, could act to raise the profile of advice for many younger people.
“It depends how it is done and who delivers it but I am all in favour of it and I do my bit at university level.”
In February, Anstee & Co launched a series of videos for university students on personal financial education, and currently the firm is talking to “lots of universities” to see how students how access it.
“I am focusing on the university market as that’s where I think people will be getting interested in finance and I also want to promote the industry.
“I think people as get more of an understanding of it and they will understand why it is so necessary and therefore it must promote the industry as people will get more interested in it.”
