'Easily accessible advice means showing your value is more important than ever'

Advice was a face-to-face business, with every client requiring in-person meetings and the accompanying travel time. Information gathering was a laborious manual process for both client and adviser. 

As a result, working with an adviser was the preserve of the few: those who could afford it, understood its value and were prepared to pay for it. 

Today, those barriers are tumbling away. The regulator is pushing at them with the advice guidance boundary review, paving the way for a much greater proportion of consumers to be supported with their financial decisions. 

And technology is powering the shift. The majority of firms use video calling for some or all of their meetings. App technology and automation are taking the work out of collecting information, communicating with clients and providers, and more. 

As a result, advice is becoming cheaper and more efficient to deliver. And it looks set to become available to a much wider range of people. The opportunity for advice firms is huge.  But seizing it successfully will bring a new challenge: demonstrating your value to a new potential client base.

In the pub the other night, a friend told me he didn’t need a financial adviser. He was doing very nicely investing for himself, thank you very much. 

At my desk the next day, looking at the performance of our indices, I thought, ‘I bet you are’. Markets are up, everything’s up. Bitcoin’s flying high again. It’s the kind of environment in which it’s easy for people to convince themselves they’ve got the Midas touch. 

As well as the unconvinced, there are the fully persuaded; those who know they need help with their finances and will welcome the chance to get it.

It’s also exactly the kind of environment in which the right advice can really count. We all know the risks of overconfidence, of anchoring on one idea or belief – ‘the market’s been going up for weeks so it’ll go up again today!’ – of putting all your eggs in one basket.

Steering clients away from these pitfalls is just one of the invaluable roles played by a financial adviser, but people aren’t always aware they need help until they’ve made the costly mistake.

As a society, we are also used to doing much more for ourselves than people did in the past. Facilitated by technology, we plan our own travel, sell our own houses, buy our own insurance. Why would we buck the trend and get an expert in to help with our finances?

Of course, as well as the unconvinced, there are the fully persuaded; those who know they need help with their finances and will welcome the chance to get it.

Time for advisers to show off

But for advisers, there’s a job to do: making your firm stand out from the crowd. 

And you also need to satisfy the regulator, who, as well as seeking to improve access to advice, is looking hard at the quality of that advice. In a consumer duty world, how is your firm delivering ongoing value? 

Getting it right – for the FCA, for your existing clients and for prospective ones – means going back to basics: what is financial advice for?

Sure, at its simplest, it’s about sorting out your clients’ savings and investments, their pensions, tax planning and protections. But to achieve that, you do so much more. 

You help your clients to know themselves – the beginning of all wisdom, as Aristotle said. What are they saving for? What does their vision of happiness look like? How do they prioritise one need or goal over another?

You help them get to grips with the concept of risk and understand what it means to them. You help them to understand where they are now and where they could realistically get to, within a range of possible outcomes. 

People will need to be prepared to pay for it, whether markets are in the doldrums or flying high.

You’re their trusted coach, supporting them to complete tasks and make decisions they’ve been putting off. And you’re with them over the years, making sure their solutions remain suitable and aligned with their shifting attitudes and needs. 

All these things are enormously valuable. And technology is enabling you to deliver them in a way that’s more profitable, more secure and more engaging.

An always-on financial plan on your clients’ phones in their pockets not only demonstrates your ongoing value, but gives clients the agency they’ve become accustomed to in the modern world, along with the support they need. 

The regulatory and technological shifts underway will bring down the cost of advice, putting it in reach of more people – but those people will need to be prepared to pay for it, whether markets are in the doldrums or flying high.

The firms that succeed in making the case for themselves will be those that engage and empower their clients, clearly communicating their ongoing value. 

Ben Goss is chief executive of Dynamic Planner