Firms said they will continue to ensure all relevant precautions are taken and government advice is followed when they look to return to face-to-face advice but claimed the vaccine will make this easier to implement.
As things stand, more than 20m people have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine - more than 30 per cent of the UK population.
The UK government is intending to offer a vaccine to all UK adults by the end of July.
Quilter Financial Planning said it will look at how it can start to allow more face-to-face meetings as the UK begins to move out of lockdown and more people are vaccinated.
A spokesperson for Quilter Financial Planning said: “Throughout the last number of months we’ve created and revised our virtual meeting process for our advisers and their clients and had significant success with this way of giving advice.
“As we start to move out of lockdown, and more people become eligible for the vaccine, we will consider how our processes may change to allow more face-to-face meetings.
“This will be in line with the government roll-out and client preference, and we will urge our advisers to get the vaccine when they are approached.”
Compulsory vaccinations?
There has been a debate recently about whether employers are allowed to insist that their employees are vaccinated before they can return to offices and a pre-Covid working environment.
But Philip Martin, managing director at Unique Financial Planning, said the firm would not compel either staff or self-employed advisers to supply this information.
However it has asked for and received vaccine statuses from its team already.
Martin said: “With five offices, it is important information for us to establish the relative risks we may run in returning, in due course.
“We are aware that some financial services employers are considering making changes to employment contracts to compel it, but our team is content to provide it voluntarily, knowing its clear purpose.”
Adviser network Tenet also said it would not insist its staff are vaccinated but will review this if government guidelines change.
Ben Wright, director of strategic development at Tenet said: “The vaccine looks like it will be a game changer in helping people back to work and getting the economy back on track and therefore we hope that the majority of people will opt to receive it.
“With that said, it is an individual’s choice on whether they want to receive the vaccine or not and we won’t insist that any of our staff or advisers are vaccinated.
“If government guidance changes, we will obviously review our position, as we have throughout the pandemic.”
At present, the majority of Tenet’s staff and advisers are working from home and it said it had “no plans to change this” until the government says it is safe to return to offices.
Wright said: “Our staff have really risen to the challenge of home working and we’ve seen great productivity, with all doing their part to help our advisers deliver great financial advice.”
Vulnerable clients
Others are faced with issues around how to deal with more vulnerable clients when they return to face-to-face advice.
For example, Will Hale, chief executive of Key, said with the average equity release customer being 71 years old, the firm is aware of how vital it is to ensure that they are kept as safe as possible.
Hale said: “Currently, we are providing telephone and video advice which is going well and when we return to face-to-face advice, we will ensure that all relevant precautions are taken.
“With regards to the vaccine, we are currently developing a roadmap which will help us to return to more face-to-face advice and we are considering what role vaccines will play as well as regular testing.
“It is important that we look after the safety of both our customers and advisers – without discriminating against those who can’t have the vaccine or have not been offered it as yet.”
Earlier this week Ian Dickinson, managing director at Lifetime Financial, said his firm was committed to ensuring everyone conducting face-to-face meetings is vaccinated, with some clients, who are often older and fall within vulnerable categories, preferring face-to-face meetings.
amy.austin@ft.com, chloe.cheung@ft.com
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