Describing it as "exciting times" Mr Ferriby, managing director of Hessle-based Informed Financial Planning, said setting up the joint ventures "took a lot of time and a lot of work" but added it would be more than worth it for his clients.
Mr Ferriby - who claimed to be the second person in the UK to receive chartered financial planner status - said he had started the process of entering into joint ventures with East Yorkshire-based Quality Solicitors Lockings and Lincolnshire-based Bridge McFarland nearly three years ago.
He told FTAdviser: "We have liked the idea of doing a joint venture with law firms for a long while, and we have worked with both of these firms for many years so it seemed like a perfect opportunity.
"A joint venture brings benefits to each party. For us at Informed Financial Planning, it brings new business and more clients, while it helps the legal practices provide a more rounded service for their clients, and satisfy a wider range of needs.
We see the joint venture as a further opportunity to expand on this together and provide a wider, improved service to our clients as a result.Richard Swaine"It also sets us and them out as being different to our competition. We operate in a competitive world and there is a need to differentiate ourselves."
According to Mr Ferriby, although these are the first joint ventures Informed Financial Planning has done with other professional firms, he said it was a "natural" progression.
He added: "Throughout the history of the businesses we have worked closely with the accountancy and the legal professions, and it is just the next step in that we've now got a legal agreement."
In February, the executive director for policy at the Solicitors' Regulation Authority (SRA), Crispin Passmore, said solicitors needed to work more closely with financial planners to provide a more holistic service.
Speaking at a lunch celebrating the 25th anniversary of Sifa, the body which brings together solicitors and IFAs, Mr Passmore said: "Just as Sifa has a long history of bringing professionals together, we hope what the SRA is doing will do this too."
At the time, Ian Muirhead, founder of Sifa and chairman of the body, said: "The time has never been more propitious for interaction between legal and financial services professionals."
Mr Ferriby said any financial planner considering a joint venture with a legal or accountancy firm should bear in mind three things. He said:
- Prepare to be patient.
- Make sure you have all the decision makers on side.
- Be careful about the kind and particular about the type of firm you are going to approach.
"You are looking for firms which are a bit more entrepreneurial - for example, those without 20 or more partners all of whom will want a say in the joint venture - and which have a client base you are likely to be interested in", he explained.
Richard Swaine, director of Quality Solicitors Lockings, said: "We have worked with Informed Financial Planning for almost five years and are delighted to be formally entering into a joint venture alongside them.
"It is important to us that IFP is a chartered financial planning firm, has STEP qualifications and is a member of Sifa. This demonstrates their strong commitment to qualifications and ethics in their field.
"IFP shares our own core values of transparency and friendly, personable client care. Our experience of their work has only brought positive feedback and complemented the legal services QualitySolicitors Lockings provide. We see the joint venture as a further opportunity to expand on this together and provide a wider, improved service to our clients as a result."
Mr Ferriby added: "The main reason we joined SIFA back in 2009 was to help us establish relationships with firms of solicitors. Our relationship with them has proved to be very successful and we would welcome any improvements to the service we are offered by them.
"In my view, Sifa is uniquely placed to assist legal and financial advisers in working together successfully."
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com
