Monday
I am the CF10 and one of the partners in our small limited liability partnership. I meet everyone on the team on Mondays and in each case the agenda is: first, what was done in the previous week; second, what will be done this week; third, what challenges have arisen that have stopped the progress of any advice or service.
This takes most of the day, but I have some time to deal with specific questions – this week, how to fill out a crystallisation form and check a transfer value analysis – before I go to meet our marketing man. We novated from a larger company last year and need a new website for one of our new advisers, as well as some targeted lead generation. I no longer use marketing for myself as I get all my new business from client referrals, although I am listed on some directories.
Tuesday – Thursday
I am out of the office in the middle of the week. I provide consultancy to a robo-advice firm and I have a meeting to attend to settle the finer points of our new retirement options advice application, due out in 2018. The preparation of advice to be delivered online takes an age, because every permutation has to be considered; but, once it is done, it is repeatable and consistent. That is the beauty of robo.
Workplace pensions have a strong suitability to a simplified and online advice process. I contribute to the discussion of how to deal with earners in between the threshold and adjusted income test margins – it is quite a challenge.
The buzz in the office is all about artificial intelligence programming being applied to advice decisions. It is invigorating to consider how IT can help us give the benefits of financial advice to the wider population and I am pleased to be a part of it. I find it remarkable that there is a whole language of technology that is new to me. Usually it is my pension speak that no one can understand.
I have a meeting with a client who has a lifetime allowance problem on his DB pension, and that turns to consideration of transfer. Having worked in the pension review of DB transfers for six years, I know where the liabilities are in this area and how to avoid them.
I have concerns about the surge in transfers, but I have always been a pension transfer specialist and I believe it can be done safely.
I also see a client about topping up his offshore bond, following a bonus at work. It is one of a few households Wake up your Wealth advises that will genuinely benefit from a full suite of product wrappers to give tax-efficient retirement income.
I have two other client meetings. In between I communicate with the office and deal with emails when I get a spare moment.
Friday
I try to relax, take stock and tidy up my business admin on Fridays, but right now it is not that simple. We tragically lost an adviser to cancer earlier in the year and this has had a massive effect on the team. We have all had to adapt and take on extra work to cope. I spend the morning calling clients I have unexpectedly inherited, mainly to book meetings to see them.
Then it is the joy of the M25 on my way home.
Greg Neall is a chartered financial planner of Wealth Wizards and Wake up your Wealth
This article was changed on 22 December to change the references to the company Wake up your Wealth, and to mention both job titles
