IFAMar 25 2022

Adviser to launch flexi advice service for younger generation

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Adviser to launch flexi advice service for younger generation
Helena Wardle, partner and chartered financial planner at Smith & Wardle Financial Planning

Helena Wardle is gearing up to launch her “financial planning-as-a-service” business ‘Money Means’, which is set to go live this summer.

The chartered financial planner intends to serve a younger audience through a combination of automated and hybrid advice, by allowing clients to switch between the two as and when it suits them.

“The advice gap is left to product providers,” Wardle told FTAdviser. “IFAs aren’t stepping up because they don’t need to. Demand [for advice] is high. It’s easy to get retirees to seek advice. And we have no competition.”

How the industry currently charges clients “didn’t sit right” with Wardle. “We really need a subscription model to attract younger people,” she said.

The reason the majority of robo-advisers have either shut up shop, are still struggling to turn a profit, or have pivoted their business model since launch is that “doing it on a traditional proposition doesn’t work”, according to Wardle.

“No-one is really listening to consumers. Robos are shoehorning people into investments and not preparing them for market changes.

“We blame consumers for not understanding. But we’re forgetting we are a service industry”.

I want to be a rebel and do this differently.Helena Wardle

In 2018, Wardle started working on a new advice model. In 2020, she set up a directly authorised firm called Smith and Wardle. This then formed the basis of ‘Money Means’, a subscription-based advice service for younger people set to launch sometime this summer which will operate as a separate business to Wardle’s current advice practice.

Since starting the venture, Chanelle Pattinson has come on board to help deliver advice through the new service as Wardle's co-founder. Her dad is a financial adviser, which inspired her to take a fresher approach to the profession.

Patterson also runs an Instagram account called @financewithchanelle which has more than 2,000 followers. Through this she has managed to find a growing number of her clients.

'We need to create demand'

“It’s like having a personal trainer for money,” Wardle said, explaining how Money Means will work. She also likened it to “financial planning-as-a-service”. She reckons a subscription-based model will make it easier to reach profitability faster.

“There’s a huge amount of shame around money. At my practice [Smith and Wardle] we focus on being approachable and clearly communicating. I want to replicate that [at Money Means]. I want to be a rebel and do things differently.”

There’s no-one with my expertise doing this.Helena Wardle

One thing Wardle is already doing differently at her current practice is displaying a full fee breakdown on her website. At Lang Cat Live in February, just a couple of hands were raised when the audience was asked: ‘who here displays their fees on their website?’

“There’s no-one with my expertise doing this,” said Wardle when asked what competition she might have. While platforms like Tillit are launching to fill the gap between advice and direct-to-consumer investment platforms they still hinge on guidance. Though some advisers are shifting to subscription-based, advice-only models.

“We’re not teaching people how to manage their money in the right way,” said Wardle. With the majority of advisers not open for business with clients who have less than £50,000 in assets, Wardle said “that would exclude most of my friends”.

“Often with innovative solutions we don’t realise we needed it until it exists and I genuinely believe that this is the same with financial planning,” Wardle explained.

“We have to help create the demand for this and be able and prepared to explain the tangible benefits of what we do.

“It doesn’t mean I am suggesting that advisers try to build their own fintech businesses, but we need to investigate tech solutions as robustly as we are expected to build our central investment propositions.

A two-way approach

In her current business, the initial end-to-end advice process - before any ongoing services are added - usually takes 10-12 hours simply because of data gathering. Through Money Means, Wardle is determined to get this down to just three or four hours.

Platforms are just administrators at the end of the day.Helena Wardle

The business model will be split into two services, paid for monthly. One will be fully automated and based on an individual's goals. The second will be a “digital human hybrid service” with a one-off advice fee rolled in. 

“Young people love subscriptions,” said Wardle. “It’s convenience which matters for people. And they will want to flit between different services.”

Clients will also be able to switch between Money Means’ two subscription services. Wardle anticipates the robo service being more profitable than the hybrid advice service as the business scales. The idea being that clients will use the robo service for ongoing maintenance, and pay for the hybrid service as and when they need advice.

To begin with, Money Means does not intend to offer a platform, meaning clients can choose a platform of their choice to invest their assets. The firm will therefore make recommendations to help guide clients, but Wardle likes the idea of not being tied to certain products. 

“There’s no conflict of interest,” she explained. “And platforms are just administrators at the end of the day. Services like Moneybox are easy to use, so we may as well tell them to use it.”

Wardle is actively looking for investment. While she said she was offered investment on day one of pitching, she is conscious of finding the right investment fit. She’s also still looking for angel investments.

ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com