SPW boss: 'I have a record of growing businesses'

The largest change to get used to is the business model.

SPW currently has 350 financial advisers, who work for two large shareholders, but they are all employed.

He says: "When you work in an environment which is a network, with self-employed advisers, it's much harder to find a sense of alignment. This is a completely different model, having everyone think in the same way because they're all employed; that's impossible in a network model."

It is also better for the customer, he says. "If the adviser is self-employed, and [the client] walks into your home and doesn't buy anything, the adviser doesn't get anything. I'm not sure that's a benevolent model. If the adviser earns anyway, that's a more benevolent model."

Having everyone think in the same way because they're all employed; that's impossible in a network model

SPW is a joint venture between Lloyds Banking Group and Schroders, with the bank owning 50.1 per cent and Schroders 49.9 per cent.

The proposition sounds relatively simple: anyone walking into a Lloyds branch, or going on their website, looking for financial advice will be steered toward an adviser at SPW, with the intention that wherever a client goes in the country, they will get the same type of advice.

From an advice perspective, it sounds compelling; an advice business that has automatic lead generation every time someone with more complex needs walks into a branch of Lloyds.

Mr Duckworth says SPW is not exclusive in terms of who it will help out: "Everybody that needs advice, we want to help. We're not saying you need £1m, but we can only help certain clients. If someone said, 'I've got £1 to save', the cost of advice wouldn't be worth it.

"We want to give more advice to more people, we're not just choosing the ultra-high-net-worth. The clients will have savings and pensions, they've got long-term goals and short-term goals and things they want to protect."

As part of the plan to reach more people, the business announced in April that it would offer protection products free of commission. The panel is currently limited to two providers: Scottish Widows, which is part of Lloyds, and Legal & General.

"We think that brings down the premium by 30 per cent, therefore they can invest more or it means the client can have 30 per cent more cover. Given there's a huge, under-served population, we think that's the right thing to do."

The business is also offering Schroders funds for those that want to invest. Schroders funds make up about 10 per cent of all funds currently on offer through the SPW service, which runs through the Benchmark Capital platform.

Mr Duckworth says: "Having Schroders as a shareholder gives you huge economy with funds. As a packaged multi-manager, you bring that at the best price; we're adding to the range all of the time."

SPW's maximum initial fee is 1.75 per cent, with 0.65 per cent ongoing fee; this drops to 0.5 per cent or 0.4 per cent, depending on asset size.

Growing business

The business now has 10 regional hubs at various places around the country, including Exeter and Bristol, and undertook a restructuring at the end of last year. The company has also launched an adviser academy last year, of which there are now 70 trainee advisers.

SPW was launched in 2019 and Duckworth is the third chief executive. James Rainbow launched the business and left after a year on the project for a senior job at Schroders. It was then run by Peter Hetherington, who came from online trader IG, and ran it for just eight months before Duckworth joined last September.

On the rapid turnover, Duckworth says: "I can't explain the predecessors," but adds that there has been a natural progression to get the company off the ground.

As of the end of last year, the business had £13.8bn of assets under management. By comparison, 1825, the advice business run by Standard Life Aberdeen had £5.5bn, and Quilter had £48.5bn (excluding platform assets).

He says: "In 2019, the business was focused on gaining its permissions – the team in place did a good job. In 2020, there been a huge amount of client onboarding; 42,000 came into the business. That's exceptional work during a pandemic."

Duckworth will not say what his target AUM is: "My belief is that if you help more clients, the assets will look after themselves."

His philosophy is: "How many clients can we help with a goal-based plan? It doesn't matter whether a client invests £5m or £50,000; the adviser gets paid on how many clients they help and the feedback they get."

Duckworth was at Openwork for 10 years, starting out as commercial development director and becoming chief executive in 2015.

He says: "When I got to Openwork, it had 1,400 advisers and we built that to more than 4,000 advisers. We built the platform and fund range company, and we expanded our mortgage business from £7bn to £19bn. I have a record of growing businesses.

"We will replicate the work we did at Openwork, but the opportunity [at SPW] is unique, you can't get this anywhere else in financial services. The concept that you can get more advice available to anywhere in the UK interests me. I feel very fortunate that we have this opportunity.

"What we're able to build is to really drive client services to a completely different level, and so they all align the same, and feel the same. If Beryl is in Birmingham and she drives to Aberdeen, will she get the same services? I'd like to think so."

Melanie Tringham is features editor of FTAdviser