IFAMar 13 2020

Aegon shuts HQ & advisers turn to Skype: industry responds to coronavirus

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Aegon shuts HQ & advisers turn to Skype: industry responds to coronavirus

Pensions giant Aegon has shut its office after a member of staff was diagnosed with the coronavirus, while advisers are turning to Skype and working from home to protect themselves and their clients against the growing crisis.

On Twitter this morning (March 13), Aegon apologised to advisers, paraplanners and customers after they were left unable to contact Aegon, adding the office in Edinburgh Park had been closed due to a single confirmed Covid-19 case.

It added it was arranging an alternative communication route.

An Aegon spokesperson said: “As a precaution we have closed our Edinburgh Park office following an employee contracting COVID-19. Our first priority is to the health and wellbeing of our employees. In line with government advice the member of staff and those that have come into close contact with them have been told to self-quarantine for 14 days and seek medical guidance from the local health authorities.

“We are currently liaising with the relevant authorities but as a precautionary measure we have closed the office for a deep clean and have told employees to work from home until further notice. We have implemented plans that enable us to provide continuity of service and thank all customers and advisers for their patience and understanding.”

Aegon was not the only firm to take measures in response to the public health scare.

Amid a nationwide effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, others too have implemented contingency plans.

The Financial Conduct Authority has already confirmed it was reviewing firms' contingency plans to assess whether they were suitably prepared for the coronavirus outbreak and its effect on day-to-day operations and client services.

The regulator said it was also looking at what steps had been taken by firms to support customers during the pandemic period.

Jason Hollands, managing director of business development and communications at Tilney Investment Management, said the company had a "very robust" business continuity plan which allowed staff to work from home on a secure IT connection. 

Mr Hollands said the company was navigating the outbreak with the use of videoconferencing and Skype, which all staff have on their desktops.

He said: "In the current environment, where some clients will want to reduce their travel and face to face contact, we are therefore making increased use of these facilities as well as telephone meetings. We have also encouraged staff to reduce travel and more are also working from home.

"We are confident that we have both the systems and flexibility in place to continue supporting clients during this period and, as you would expect, we are closely monitoring guidance from the government and health organisations."

He added: "We also operate from 30 office locations across the UK and have a multi-site approach to our main business functions, which provides the flexibility to move staff or activities to different locations if required. All client assets are held with third-party custodians, who have confirmed their staff can also work remotely if required."

Martin Bamford, director of client education at adviser Informed Choice, said the company's response to the coronavirus had been on the agenda at its board meeting this morning (March 13), with an email due to be sent to clients later today. 

Mr Bamford said: "The coronavirus pandemic is clearly a significant issue. We're closely monitoring official guidance and taking necessary measures to protect our staff, their families, and our clients.

"We are asking our team members and our clients to be considerate, and avoid visiting our offices if they display any coronavirus symptoms, including a high temperature or persistent cough."

Informed Choice has hardware and software solutions in place in an effort to ensure business continuity, in case team members are required to self-isolate in the coming weeks, he said.

Mr Bamford added: "In addition, we are offering our clients the alternative to meet with us remotely, via video or phone call, instead of meeting face-to-face.

"We are especially concerned about protecting the health and wellbeing of our older clients, as it appears that coronavirus can be transmitted before symptoms are present.

"Where clients still wish to meet at our offices, we are happy to accommodate these meetings for the time being, but we will be limiting contact to the client and their financial planner, and thoroughly cleaning all surfaces between meetings."

Mr Bamford said staff were "stepping up" their hand-washing and surface cleaning practices and following "good hygiene" when entering or leaving the building and on receipt of deliveries.

Avoiding face-to-face contact should also prove straight-forward at LV, where retirement advice service is telephone-based. 

David Gwyer, media relations manager at LV, said: "All of our advisers have the ability to work from home. We’re still in the office at the moment but are monitoring developments and will follow guidance from government and LV’s business continuity team."

Intermediary-only lender Keystone Property Finance also took "precautionary" measures this week, halting all face to face meetings between its external business development managers and brokers.

The lender said: "The team will instead be offering meetings via video call, as well as being contactable through email and telephone. Our BDMs will also not be attending any large events in an effort to reduce the risk posed to our staff and wider team."

Kay Ingram, director of public policy at advice firm LEBC, said: "We have advance contingency plans in place to maintain the wellbeing of staff and clients and to be able to continue to service client’s needs.

"We will continue to take advice from government agencies as the situation develops."

rachel.mortimer@ft.com, additional reporting by imogen.tew@ft.com

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