{"id":677,"date":"2020-10-22T15:33:06","date_gmt":"2020-10-22T14:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/npwm.co.uk\/?p=677"},"modified":"2020-10-23T13:17:35","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T12:17:35","slug":"what-do-you-want-from-your-financial-adviser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npwm.co.uk\/?p=677","title":{"rendered":"What Do You Want From Your Financial Adviser?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>A view from\nNicholas Paul based on a career of feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This an important question to people seeking advice, but\nalso to me as an adviser. When I took the decision to set up Nicholas Paul\nWealth Management Ltd (NPWM) in 2019, it was done with this question in mind, as\nI had heard views from clients over many years and had also been subject to internal\nemployer issues which affected my relationship with clients. My focus was to provide\na service which, I believe, would satisfy the needs of those seeking advice and\nto defeat the frustrations which I am aware exist. Not every client wants the\nsame service of course, but below are the consistent key points I have picked\nup from clients over the years (in no particular order). This relates primarily\nto clients who have an ongoing advice relationship, but the principles relate\nalso to transactional client work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Quality\nand reliability<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>An adviser who is knowledgeable and experienced;<\/li><li>Clear communication and reporting with no \u201csilly\nerrors\u201d.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">My view<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is pretty simple &#8211; clients want a decent service, and\nthey pay for it. There is no excuse for poor quality in terms of the advice\nitself, communication or reporting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Professional knowledge comes from both professional\nqualifications and experience, and I have heard clients (and professional\ncontacts) relate concerns about some advisers lacking such knowledge and\/or\nexperience on a number of occasions. I have also seen errors made as a result\nof a lack of knowledge. All advisers need to develop, however, so it is\nslightly unfair to write-off younger advisers purely based on age, but where\nadvisers do lack experience there should be a strong supervisory structure in\nplace to ensure client advice is suitably monitored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">NPWM\u2019s position<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At NPWM, I conduct all advice matters, but even then there\nis a strict compliance process which involves file checking and \u201cpre-sale\u201d\nchecks for higher risk advice. As a Chartered Financial Planner with a great\ndeal of experience as a financial adviser (see my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nicholas-paul-7369679\/\">LinkedIn page<\/a> for\ndetails of my experience) I am very focused on providing high standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A key driver for me when setting up NPWM was that all advice\nwill pass though me, and any future advisers in the business will be under my\nwatch. It is actually not uncommon that the senior managers of financial advice\noperations have no experience of working as a financial adviser \u2013 I see this as\nneither positive nor acceptable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Consistency\nin the adviser relationship \u2013 \u201cnot another change of adviser!\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Having a long-term advice relationship with the\nsame person (or group of people) so there is greater familiarity. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">My view<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This has probably been the greatest frustration I have heard from clients over the years, and I completely understand it. I once became the appointed adviser for a couple of clients following the departure of a colleague, and I was their fourth adviser in the same company within 2 years. I have seen many similar cases over the years, with staff turnover being the primary cause. From my perspective as an adviser, I much prefer to have long-term client relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">NPWM\u2019s position<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At NPWM it is quite simple \u2013 this is my company, and I have\nno intention of quitting my own business, nor sacking myself! If you join NPWM\nas my client, you can expect me to be your adviser for the long-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For any future advisers joining the business, there will be\na dual adviser approach whereby every client will have a \u201cnumber 2\u201d adviser\nalongside their primary adviser. My strategy for any new advisers will be to\ninvolve them as true stakeholders in the business, not just as employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Clear and\nfair costs and charges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Clarity on how much is paid for services, including any associated costs for matters advised upon;<\/li><li>Fair costs which are considered to be \u201cgood value\u201d.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">My view<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Experience has taught me that clients do not mind paying\nfees if they consider the service to be good value. Value is very subjective,\nbut I have seen and heard of situations where fee levels have been very\nsignificant without any credible justification. This is not just about the fees\ncharged by the adviser; it is also associated charges such as ongoing\ninvestment management costs and product charges. For investments, such ongoing\ncosts can create a huge drag on performance, and this is a matter which has been\nreported in the press over the years, especially with regard to pensions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, it is possible to access good quality investment\nmanagement services on the open market with costs which are significantly lower\nthan in past years, and similarly the market allows for various competitive options\nfor financial products and platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">NPWM\u2019s position<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When setting up NPWM, I ensured I would be able to access\nthe whole market when considering investment solutions, i.e. be independent, as\na \u201cone size fits all\u201d approach can be disadvantageous for clients. For example,\nsome investment platforms have a charging structure which favours a client\nwith, say, \u00a350k to invest, whereas others have a charging structure which\nfavours a \u00a35m portfolio, and others in between. If an adviser is tied to one\nplatform, this will provide simplicity for the adviser but it may result in unnecessary\nexpense for clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also decided to set initial advice fees at a rate which (I\nbelieve) are very competitive. It is my belief that the provision of a quality\nservice will be the ultimate driver of income for NPWM, as positive word of\nmouth is worth more than a high initial fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>A personal,\nbespoke service where trust can be built<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Adviser availability when contact is sought;<\/li><li>Proactive communication from the adviser;<\/li><li>Not feeling that you are one of a huge number of clients subject to the same approach;<\/li><li>Confidence that your affairs, and your family\u2019s affairs, are in good hands.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">My view<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The service provided by financial advisers will often come\ndown to the personal approach of the adviser who looks after you, but this will\nalways be affected by the broader operation of the advice firm. An adviser may\nbe required to service over 100 ongoing client relationships, but I would say this\nis not possible unless there is a very slick and competent support team as part\nof a highly efficient operation. Any cracks in this would be problematic, and unfortunately\nI have seen this happen in my previous employed life with staff turnover once again\na key factor. The quality and reliability of the service provided will\ndetermine trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">NPWM\u2019s position<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key to providing a good service where trust can be built is\nto avoid having a large bank of ongoing client relationships. Even with\ncompetent paraplanning and administrative support I would not seek to have more\nthan 40 ongoing client relationships, so that I can commit a suitable amount of\ntime to each client, with further time set aside for transactional work.&nbsp; Any future advisers will be subject to the\nsame approach. By maintaining a straight-forward, transparent operation where I\nhave time for clients, and with the experience I have as an adviser, I believe\nI can maximise trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>What do you think?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you wish to discuss what being a client of NPWM would be\nlike, please drop me line at <a href=\"mailto:nick.paul@npwm.co.uk\">nick.paul@npwm.co.uk<\/a>\nor call 0131 357 2455.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To view more details of my experience and qualifications as\nan adviser, please have a look at my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nicholas-paul-7369679\/\">LinkedIn page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A view from Nicholas Paul based on a career of feedback This an important question to people seeking advice, but also to me as an adviser. When I took the decision to set up Nicholas Paul Wealth Management Ltd (NPWM) in 2019, it was done with this question in mind, as I had heard views [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Do You Want From Your Financial Adviser? - Nicholas Paul Wealth Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/npwm.co.uk\/?p=677\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Do You Want From Your Financial Adviser? - Nicholas Paul Wealth Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A view from Nicholas Paul based on a career of feedback This an important question to people seeking advice, but also to me as an adviser. 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