IN YOUR CORNER
IN YOUR CORNER
Despite everything that ’ s happened over the last 12 months , SimplyBiz Chairman , Ken Davy , remains as optimistic as ever about the bright future which lies ahead for advisers . In this edition , he explores the opportunities made available through new tech and virtual interaction , and how to make the most of referrals .
Ken Davy Chairman SimplyBiz
Although we are already too far into 2021 for me
to wish you a Happy New Year , I would like to welcome you to a birth of a new golden age for the financial services sector and , in particular , financial advisers . But first , let us have a look back at 2020 . It was a dreadful year of hardship and suffering and we should never minimise the impact of the pandemic . The appalling loss of life , the disruption to all our lives , disruption to business , disruption to education , the economic damage and the long-term cost of the pandemic and COVID-19 , will certainly be felt for a long time . But what else happened in 2020 ? We witnessed fundamental changes to behaviour in society . You may have heard – or read - me say before that , in a war , society changes ten times faster than in peacetime , and that was certainly the case in 2020 .
Because we have been at war and – at the time of writing - are still at war with this virus ; but society has changed , and those changes have been profound . What we had in 2020 is ten years of change in ten months and that ’ s going to have a huge impact on all of us . Just to offer a personal example - last year I planned a trip to Machu Picchu in South America , which obviously was cancelled . I have now been told I can have a personal tour without leaving my armchair and without flying 14 hours to South America . Obviously , it won ’ t be as good as being there - and I won ’ t get to experience the altitude sickness either ! - but the reality is , whilst it won ’ t be as good , it will be as close as you can possibly get . There is nothing that can replace the personal connections that we all have with people , the face-to-face meetings , the developing of empathy and all those very human things ; nothing can replace them as they will always come from personal interaction . However , technology enables us to get incredibly close to recreating those situations and experiences , and the impact it will have on financial advisers is going to be phenomenal . Indeed , these changes are going to be nothing less than revolutionary . In fact , during 2020 , we know that financial
THE VAST MAJORITY OF FIRMS SERVED BY SIMPLYBIZ HAD A BETTER YEAR THAN IN 2019 , AND YOU DID IT BY EMBRACING CHANGE , BY EMBRACING OPPORTUNITIES AND ALSO BY EMBRACING THE FACILITIES THAT WE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU .
advisers have already been changing and adapting to these new times because , despite all the challenges , the vast majority of firms served by SimplyBiz had a better year than in 2019 , and you did it by embracing change , by embracing opportunities and also by embracing the facilities that we made available to you . 2021 will proffer opportunities to deliver better outcomes to your clients , opportunities to serve them more efficiently through technology and to deliver the services you want remotely . Of course , not everything will be done by video and , equally , in some areas the internet is still not as strong or as fast as it should be . Undoubtedly , the telephone is a great way of communicating but , in so many circumstances , a virtual option is by far the best . Why drive 20 or 30 miles - or have your clients drive 20 or 30 miles - to meet , when you can do it by video call instead ? In this new environment , this new age , one of the things that we ’ re already seeing is that referrals are much easier to obtain . An increasingly popular route to new clients is through the families and friends of existing clients . The simple fact is , regardless of age , the longer a person benefits from financial advice the more financially secure they become . It ’ s a simple fact , and what could be less intimidating for a first introduction than a 20-minute zoom call to explore someone ’ s situation ? I began this article by saying we were entering a golden age for financial advisers , and I truly believe that . Of course , there are hurdles ; for example , the FSCS levy with its grotesque charging structure that falls primarily on financial advisers . I hope that , by the time you read this , the situation with the increase to the levy has been reconsidered and dismissed . After all , the last time this was looked at -as a direct result of a meeting I had with the then Chairman of the FCA - product providers started to contribute 25 % to the bill ; therefore , when your bills now land , they are 25 % less than they would otherwise have been because of that result . I ’ m still battling away for you and I hope that this time I will get an even better result .
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