Since starting out in the industry 30 years ago as a life inspector for Phoenix Assurance, Mr Llewellyn has worked for a number of the big product providers as a marketing specialist. In 2011 he decided to team up with his friend Mr Kirby, a practising IFA, to bring their expertise to the financial advisory community in a period of regulatory change and digital transition.
He said: “Adviser Home was driven partly by RDR and insourcing experts in various areas to help advisers run their business. Some of the traditional support lines from life companies were looking to be cut or trimmed so the idea of financial advisers as a business is an important one.”
Mr Llewellyn and Mr Kirby’s status as directors of an adviser hub website means they are in regular contact with financial advisers. One thing in particular that they have learned from regular surveys is that, post-RDR, advisers are starting to invest in external consultancy services as they hit the marketing trail in search of new clients.
He said: “One of the big things this year that have come up is that there is an absolute requirement and determination to get more serious about marketing and getting new clients. In the run-up to RDR advisers thought even more about how to market their services, which was partly driven by remuneration charges.
“RDR has led to people taking on a more segmented approach to clients and the older model of having 100 clients from trail commission is changing. Now you have to go out and find new clients and advisers have recognised the importance of this. Existing clients still provide the vast majority of income, but there currently is a big theme from advisers on picking up new ones.”
This theme is obviously benefitting Adviser Home’s marketing services and has encouraged Mr Llewellyn, who said that ambitious growth and expansion plans were synonymous with higher levels of professionalism. He added: “If you go out seeking new clients it will make you sharper and make your brand more important so this development is helping the businesses to become more professional.”
Mr Llewellyn highlighted the changing themes across all types of business and how important it was to stay relevant and in tune with the times. He stressed there was a growing need to adapt, not only because the digital age had taken over and advisers were seeking new clients, but also as a result of increased competition for wealthy clients.
He said that in this new era broad exposure across a range of platforms was essential, as was a massive online presence. Advisers should not only have a website, but one they were “delighted with” and, at the very minimum, must define their target audiences and ensure that this group was fully aware of the firm’s services.
According to Mr Llewellyn, brands can be promoted online, through social media, a decent website, through a PR agency or even by sponsoring a local football team. In terms of the websites, he stressed: “If you do a Google search are you going to come up on the first page? If you don’t you aren’t likely to get a call. How many financial advisers are in the know in terms of search engine optimisation? Ten per cent maybe but that is going to change.”
Adviser Home is doing its part to ensure advisers become more internet savvy and is currently in the process of launching some brand-building tools. This includes workshops on how to use social media effectively, getting a business online and a new project with public relations firm MRM.
He said: “We are in the middle of developing a consortium with MRM which will allow advisers much more access to PR. This is currently going through a launch trial and the idea is that advisers will choose their speciality and then will be provided with options to get coverage with the national or the specialist trade press.”
Mr Llewellyn is aware that the profession still has some way to go to achieve the type of exposure that businesses in other fields have done, but nonetheless he is encouraged by the massive improvements in recent years. He said websites were steadily improving and so too was the development of regular email communication, which he hopes will soon replace the time-consuming production of “20-odd page brochures” every quarter.
Finally, one aspect that does really excite Mr Llewellyn is the awareness and importance placed on building professional connections, and he said networking with solicitor and accountancy firms can help advisers to capture new profitable business. He added: “Having just a logo, brochure and website is not enough anymore. It’s all about quality and relevance. If you want to deal with people who have investment portfolios of £100,000 or more, solicitors and accountants will know these people and can bring business to the adviser.”
Daniel Liberto is a features writer for Financial Adviser
Brendan Llewellyn’s Career Ladder
2011 Adviser Home, Director
2011 Marketing Edge, Owner
1983 Scottish Amicable, product development manager and then marketing director
1979 Phoenix Assurance, life inspector in Manchester until 1981 and then transferred to the marketing department in Bristol.
