How client relationships reflect the adviser's lived experience

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How client relationships reflect the adviser's lived experience
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Yet, in 2017 the Financial Conduct Authority found that 50 per cent of UK adults displayed one or more characteristics of potential vulnerability.

It is clear therefore, that such experiences are commonplace and there is much need for conversation around the value of personal ‘lived experience’ of vulnerability in business, especially in financial services.

But Keith Richards, chief executive of the Personal Finance Society and chairman of the Financial Vulnerability Taskforce, recognises that such a conversation won’t be straight forward.

He says: “People in vulnerable circumstances are often unaware of their vulnerability and, if they are aware, might not acknowledge it nor wish to be described as vulnerable”. This applies to advisers, as much as it does to clients.

Stigma or strength?

While some of these tensions may be linked to a fear of stigma, there is a growing movement which recognises that having and being able to draw from lived experience of vulnerable circumstances can actually be a strength.

Steve Nelson, director of insight at financial consultancy the langcat, suffered a breakdown in 2013 and often experiences depression. He now speaks openly about his condition.

Nelson says: “Depression for me manifests itself in a combination of fatigue, distraction, lack of drive…all those things that are toxic to an analytical role in financial services.” 

Being open about his condition has been very meaningful. Taking courage and strength, it has won him a large following of like-minded and open-minded individuals in the sector and beyond.

The advice sector has never been in a better place for focusing on things like client goals, trust, relationships and wellbeing. -- Steve Nelson

Because he has taken the lead in talking about mental health in financial services, Nelson has been able to shape opinion with the support of his colleagues at the langcat.

The bottom line, he feels, is building better working relationships: “Business has always thrived on forming good, trusted personal relationships with people. That’s always been the case and always will be the case. Being open and honest about who you are can only help build trust with people”, he says.

Adviser Kathryn Knowles is a successful business owner who has suffered anxiety and a number of physical health conditions through her life. Her personal experience of barriers faced in obtaining insurance due to her health conditions led her and her partner Alan, to set up Cura Financial Services.

An insurance brokerage firm, Cura now helps high risk individuals, many of whom have long-term health conditions, to gain protection. She uses her lived experience insight to train advisers and advise clients directly herself. 

Openness around her lived experience has also enabled Knowles to influence the industry by advising a number of sector organisations. She has been involved in consultations with insurers and trade bodies, and currently sits on committees with the British Insurance Brokers Association and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Bringing the 'whole self'

Knowles thrives on bringing her ’whole self’- which includes the rich resource of her lived experience - to her work. She combines an “understanding of how businesses work”, gained through a PhD in business, with direct experience of being an adviser.

She also brings her own knowledge as a client who was “previously declined for life insurance and would still be declined for income protection due to my health conditions”. 

In the same way as she integrates these varying perspectives into her work, giving her an advanced insight into the needs of different groups, she also believes in a whole industry approach, integrating different parts of the sector to share diverse experiences.

“You cannot just have actuaries talking together, or underwriters talking to themselves, or advisers, or reinsurers, or insurers, or trade bodies", Knowles explains. "We are all so specialised and it is essential that we have representation from each area, to sit and speak openly to make true meaningful change."

This diversity of perspectives is where lived experience fits in – enhancing diversity of thinking, proven so valuable to business success. 

And many advisers, planners, consultants and others may have witnessed an area of vulnerability in their backgrounds. Henry Tapper, former IFA and chief executive of AgeWage UK, is one such person.

The financial adviser who sympathetically guides (a client going through a situation of vulnerability) through to other side is likely to have a loyal client for life. -- Keith Richards

Tapper’s father was a doctor specialising in geriatric care. He set up two care homes as a charity that took in people who could not afford private fees.

Tapper says: “I got to spend time with older people, many of whom were declining mentally. It made me aware that growing old is scary – and that later life finances can be precarious.”

This background gave him an understanding of the challenges, including financial ones, that older people face. “I saw how difficult it became for people towards the end of their lives, to manage their finances and how important the help of pensions, of family and of professionals was.”

This understanding has led Tapper’s journey towards being an industry leader who builds awareness of later life needs and vulnerabilities through his work. His experience of witnessing that vulnerability has proved to be a resource that has shaped his own career.

Empathy and the client

Being empathetic and / or being able to relate personally to a client’s situation of vulnerability is good from an individual’s business point of view, and at industry level.

Nelson believes that there is a “shared responsibility for the whole sector to put in place the processes and frameworks that allow equal access to people of all circumstances and backgrounds, and appropriate safeguards and protections for those who are vulnerable.” 

The advantages, he feels, are enormous. “The advice sector has never been in a better place for focusing on things like client goals, trust, relationships and wellbeing, with products and services secondary to the discussion.

"That can only be a good thing for forming trusted relationships with people.”

For the PFS's Richards, it is good for the individual adviser too: “The financial adviser who sympathetically guides (a client going through a situation of vulnerability) through to other side is likely to have a loyal client for life.”

Clearly, openness about lived experience of vulnerability is an asset to the individual and to the industry, winning client loyalty and reputational trust.

As more and more evidence comes to light of the value to businesses of diversity in thinking and experience, lived experience of vulnerability becomes a significant component in the conversation around what makes business successful.

Anita Boniface is a freelance journalist