How can advisers build their business in the remote working era?

Phil Deeks, a director within KPMG’s EMA risk and regulatory insights centre, says one of the biggest themes that has emerged out of the crisis has been the need for firms to digitise certain parts of their businesses. 

Mr Deeks adds: “Advisers are no exception to this, and the crisis will have accelerated the movement towards more effective and convenient solutions to deliver their service. 

“Many client interactions, for example the annual review process, can reasonably be done remotely, and clients are happy to engage over video conferencing.”

Saying that, Mr Deeks adds that an implication of Covid-19 may be that firms will start developing charging models that move away from purely ad valorem charging. 

“This is because revenue generation purely linked to ‘assets under advice' can be materially impacted when large negative market performance occurs,” he adds.

Improved IT skills

For advisers like Sebastian Riemann, financial consultant at Libra Financial Planning, remote working has helped improve his IT skills, although it will not stop him doing face-to-face consultations.

Mr Riemann says: “I have had to drag myself into the 21st century using Zoom, Microsoft Teams and all sorts. That’s where the most significant change going forward, will come from. 

“Using that kind of technology to improve customer experience does not actually change what we do very much. 

“I do most of my business face-to-face and I intend on doing that going forward, but I can do initial discussions and prep work using those systems. They have lots of positives, but it is not a complete substitute for doing the advice face-to-face.”

Ian McKenna, founder of FTRC adds: “We are seeing huge increases in adoption of virtual meetings and particularly some of the more sophisticated virtual meetings embedded in practice management systems, and far more use of client portals.”

For some advisers remote working has meant they can serve clients better.

Protection specialist Ian Sawyer, commercial director at Assured Futures, says: “We can have more flexible working; have people part office working, part home working, which in practice can give better cover at weekends and evenings.”

“Enquiry levels are down and we have spare capacity, so we are putting some of our team members, far more onto retention, making sure if people are cancelling we are getting hold of them and understanding their issues."

Provider adaptation

As advisers do not exist in isolation, the efficiency of their business is affected by the provider they use.

And in this period some providers have invited criticism for their inability to adapt to the changed circumstances.

Darren Cooke, a chartered financial planner at Red Circle Financial Planning, says: "Some providers were already [making improvements pre-Covid-19] and accelerated, but the ones who were not have generally acted badly and you still can't do stuff with them online."

According to Ian McKenna, the dissatisfaction over some providers' capability or lack of, has reached a point where advisers are far less forgiving to those companies that have not been able to adapt quickly.

Mr McKenna says: “Indeed even advisers who historically have taken a fairly traditional approach are now demanding change. 

“You only have to look at the extent to which things like electronic signatures [are being accepted]. Suddenly all sorts of different ways of getting signatures have become available to platforms, when the option was: 'If you don’t take the e-signature there will be no new business'. People are taking those decisions in weeks, where they may have historically taken months.”

“Providers who cannot adapt to the way new advisers need to work are going to see their new business volumes reduce significantly, because, all of a sudden your ability to operate digitally and in a remote environment is crucial.”

Scott Gallacher, director at Rowley Turton, adds: "Because a lot of the providers are accepting e-signatures, it is going to make life better. It is one of those things that until you start using those systms, you do not think about.

"The idea of printing off the form, putting it in an envelope, sending it by post, then it is sent to the provider by paper - it is absolutely instant now with an e-doc. You can do it while on the phone and depending on the provider, I can upload it the same day.

"Once this is over, I cannot see that being reversed. I cannot see clients, advisers and providers wanting to reverse it."

At what has been a challenging time, it is not only advisers who are thinking about the impact of the crisis on their business models. The FCA is too.

It recently launched a review into how advisers have responded to the crisis, to find out how resilient firms have been.

Mr Deeks says there are three key considerations to note when considering how advisers have responded to this pandemic.

While the specifics of the review are not clear, it will likely cover firms’ financial, operational and commercial resilience. 

Mr Deeks adds: “This means that alongside ensuring that firms hold sufficient capital and have been able to continue to operate appropriately, the FCA may also assess whether business models, associated propositions, processes and procedures all still deliver good outcomes after this period. 

“The generally accepted view is that the sector has responded well – however, firms will need to do their own learning from this crisis, and the FCA’s findings will help them to benchmark themselves and take advantage of other good practices to build a more robust and customer-centric business.”

And when it comes to vulnerable customers, Jonathan Cavill, a senior associate at Pinsent Masons, believes advisers will move away even more from a tick-box exercise type of conversation; 'thinking more of a nuanced analysis of the customer to ensure the right outcomes', while record keeping will improve."

He adds: "And with scripts, even if they are not using scripts, I think advisers will move towards prompt-type questions to find out more from the customers to help deal with difficult conversations."