Lifetime Financial has made a commitment to clients to ensure all of its advisers are vaccinated before returning to widescale face-to-face client meetings.
The South Yorkshire-based firm wants to return to face-to-face meetings as early as April.
Ian Dickinson, managing director at Lifetime Financial, said he believed the commitment should be an industry standard, and that clients should have the right to know if their adviser has been vaccinated before any face-to-face meeting.
Dickinson said: “[There] will be some clients, often older and those in vulnerable categories that prefer face-to-face meetings, and we are committing to ensure that everyone conducting face-to-face meetings is vaccinated.
“[Going] forward, and as soon as all our advisers are given the opportunity to have a vaccine we want our clients to know that our advisers have been vaccinated. We also believe this should be considered best practice for the industry.”
Dickinson however expects many of the firm's clients will want to continue with online meetings following their success.
He added that very few face-to-face and socially distanced meetings were currently being conducted when absolutely necessary and only at a client’s request.
Piers Mepsted, managing director at Financial Advice Centre, said his firm has had internal discussions and agreed a similar policy.
Mepsted also said the firm had seen an increased acceptance by most clients for video meetings, but added: “[Our] industry is built on personal relationships and the flexibility for us to get back to doing this, where appropriate, is welcomed.
“For this to happen we would promote transparency and echo [Lifetime Financial’s] sentiment that clients should be informed for their protection, and the adviser, if either had received the vaccination.”
chloe.cheung@ft.com
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