"Getting things done..."

As we move out of the Christmas holiday season and glide inexorably towards the new set of legislation and regulations, isn’t it heartening to think what a “can do attitude” Industry the financial services industry is to work in.

We are one of the very few industries that has genuinely self-regulated successfully without too many hitches! Take Estate Agency as an example the quagmire of regulations self imposed that don’t even touch the sides when it comes to putting the customer first and providing protection against unscrupulous Estate Agency owners and sellers yet the investment levels are often far higher and fraught with danger.

By no means has this been an easy path to tread being entrenched in the “Glass Cliff” that is Best Advice to the customer, a seemingly poison chalice that every IFA works towards. But it is one that we have taken the baton on and run with, conscious that if we get it right the whole industry will benefit with customer confidence at the levels that IFA’s deserve and are representative of the qualifications and the huge deluge of information an IFA needs to disseminate almost daily.

As an Industry we are a little like the Americans we don’t mind airing our “Dirty Laundry” in public unafraid of the truth knowing the journey will be uncertain but buoyed by the belief that it will make there country or our industry a better place to live in or work in respectively. But come to think of it who wants a certain future, certainty is born from uncertainty not vice versa we want an ever changing and developing industry, and no maybe this wont be easy but then again any achievement can only be judged by how difficulty it was to achieve and as such we move forwards as an Industry not stand still and get left behind.

So why not be proud and continue in this pioneering vain to produce an industry we can all be proud of, and is seen as such by it’s customers with the eventuality being IFA’s and financial services professionals being treated with the respect they deserve in a country that for the last two terms of a Labour Government has only got one thing right and that’s the Economy! And who predominantly controls this us the financial services industry. Britain is after all the epicentre of financial services and has been the only product produced by our country for sometime now with our products being way in advance of the rest of Europe and knocking on the door of the States.

With the advent of the new Qualification replacing FPC and its ramifications expected to be introduced next year we all wait patiently to see if infact it will have the desired effect and hopefully introduce not just a higher standard of knowledge and professionalism but also the “New Blood” the industry so desperately needs to sustain itself. The average age of an IFA is presently 54 and it seems common sense that this needs to be addressed via these IFA’s mentoring and helping to develop the newer recruits in the subtle art of financial services and I believe once the waters have calmed and we have ridden the waves of misselling etc this balance will be redressed.

With only 1 in 15 members of the public being properly covered in there retirement and the current pensions and health debacles it seems only a matter of time that this business is written and with fresh imputes from the regulator and the new recruits we stand in a puddle that is about to turn into a lake, so if we are all wearing the armbands that is the regulator our industry will only go from strength to strength.

The quality of candidates we are now seeing is unprecedented in my time in recruitment and not just in the fledgling stage but throughout the market with IFA’s wanting and getting the recognition they deserve as almost if not on a level par respect wise with the likes of Accountants. After all we do actually save and make people money “SUPRISINGLY ENOUGH.” You would think by most reports all we ever do is lose it!!!!

So in conclusion I for one cant wait to move into a more respected and legislated industry that in turn will snowball to an arena in which people will be falling over themselves to get into rather than this commonly held belief that the industry is populated by an old school of adviser that only has his eye firmly fixed on commission cheques and not customer loyalty and respect which is in fact the case. Look after and service your clients and like in life we will all get the right results and continue with our no nonsense approach of truth and transparency.

After all we have always been a Country and Industry that likes GETTING THINGS DONE…………

David Coates, Managing Director - Walker Joice Specialist Financial Services Recruitment