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The UKs RDR restructuring of the financial services supply train is gathering pace. While I suspect that some of the larger players have not fully come to terms with what they need to do, many of their smaller more flexible competitors are already proceeding full steam ahead. |
They have made the critical decisions as to who they will work with and what they must do. In Australia, the somewhat similar FoFA reforms have been delayed, presumably after heavy lobbying form the big end of town, I wonder if a similar outcome might occur in the UK.
It’s seems to me that the UK financial advisory market is undergoing a once in a lifetime experiment. The move to a client-centric, collaborative advice process is unprecedented anywhere else in the 19 countries where we do business.
I have completed the first of the three around-the-UK investment suitability workshop tours. The ‘We are Not Here by Accident’ three hour workshops with Voyant and Nucleus proved to be a great success. Feed back during and after each session was hugely enthusiastic with particular excitement generated around the ADAPT suitability process and the usability/visual attractiveness of the FinaMetrica and Voyant integration.
I have to say I am enjoying my time in the UK immeasurably. It’s wonderful to be able to say that there is little harm and possibly great benefit in what we can do together. And of course for the first time in many years innovation is the order of the day. I have once before been part of such a major industry change. That was the Australian financial planning revolution of the 1980′s, which was the forerunner to the creation of the platform market.
I am soon to commence a tour with Aberdeen as part of their contribution to the RDR changes. I am currently preparing an ethics presentation for the IFP and an article linking the Financial Services Authority’s guidance paper to the number of clients and sums of money possibly misadvised. Also in the pipeline is a series of user friendly explanations of the Five Proofs and the ADAPT process.
My days are filled with discussions with players in the financial services supply chain exploring ways we can jointly make it easier for advisers to do business with us in the years ahead. I expect to be able to release details of the first (hopefully of several) end-to-end integrations in the next short while.
One of the challenges for small businesses such as FinaMetrica is to find the individuals within prospective integration partners’ enterprises where the three attributes to a quick and appropriate decision sit. The three are: a clear articulation of the problem to be resolved, an anxiety to resolve it and the ability to make the implementation decision. This is generally easier in small firms but in larger organisations it’s often difficult for an outsider to work out who does what. Consequently it’s an absolute delight that I have over the last while been contacted directly by representatives of larger firms who want to integrate with us.
I plan to return to Australia in late May and hope to have established a permanent UK presence for FinaMetrica before I leave.
