Paying Ongoing Advisor Charges

dunstonh

If advisers buy in a Robo and try to run it as a bronze option, they'll struggle. It won't be far off what they (should?) have probably been doing post RDR anyway, if anything.

Why would it be a struggle? After all, that is what you are doing.

RDR didnt allow robo-advice. Or rather it didnt cater for it as it said advice had to be priced separately from product. There is still a lot of fear as to how the FCA, FOS etc will treat robo-advice. FMAR should resolve a lot of that.

Aegon has been actively taking clients away from advisers. So, yes, they are well positioned if they get it right. They need to really as they their intermediary offerings are poor and by alienating the hand that fed it, they need to get it right.

the banks have got to be looking at it as well to get back into the game. its going to be very crowded to begin with.

Al.

Not quite, I'm not doing it as a bolt on. Fiver won't orbit around anything else, it'll evolve as a brand and proposition in its own right and soon, form the basis for insurance (and possibly) if the tech and regulatory conditions allow, retirement provision.

Many advisers will launch a micro site, or something similar, and it'll get lost in all the chaff out there. Most of my effort for the past eight months has been on delivering Fiver and finding it a voice and a niche. It has been nightmarish at times, and a steep learning curve. It's difficult reconciling modern business trading practice with FSMA and COBS*.

I went to the FCA Robo 'summit', the imperative and recognition of the need there is clear. Having said that, you know as well as I do, just how fluctuating the speed and direction of travel can be with the Regulator. Some of the bank propositions are scary, I found (genuinely) their attitude in respect of fintech breathtaking, customers are 'cattle'.

* Buzzword bingo translation: 1) Financial Services and Market Act and 2) COBS = http://www.fca.org.uk/firms/being-regulated/meeting-your-obligations/cobs

dunstonh

Not quite, I'm not doing it as a bolt on. Fiver won't orbit around anything else, it'll evolve as a brand and proposition in its own right and soon, form the basis for insurance (and possibly) if the tech and regulatory conditions allow, retirement provision.

Yes, there will be differences but at the end of the day, if an adviser can offer a portal to a client and put x% of their client bank on to it that they were going to lose anyway, then its not a bad result for the adviser firm. It will be a secondary income but its virtually cost free for the adviser firm to do it. And that is the bit where I cant see how a firm with a turnover of £100k, running at a loss of £5million and less clients than a single IFA can turn profitable in time before the mass market and his dog has something to offer.

Many advisers will launch a micro site, or something similar, and it'll get lost in all the chaff out there.

IFAs are always lost in the chaff as its still very much a cottage industry and lacks any strong voice. There is going to be a lot of chaff though once most IFAs offer a portal. I wish you success (and I genuinely mean it) but you have that same chaff to fight through. You are getting in early with the media coverage as currently there are only a few of you. I suspect a couple of those that exist now wont exist in the future given their finances. You are getting lucky as a small local IFA firm with more assets under management than all of you combined wouldnt get that national media coverage. So, you need to make good use of it whilst you can.

Some of the bank propositions are scary, I found (genuinely) their attitude in respect of fintech breathtaking, customers are 'cattle'.

Every time a bank has bought an insurance company or fund house, it has managed to destroy it. They see it as a short term cash cow and starve it of technology until it is squeezed to the point that they make more money selling it to Reassure or Phoenix.

That wont stop the banks entering the market and charging above average and selling it by the bucket load to people that know no better.

It has been nightmarish at times, and a steep learning curve.

And this is where I am still struggling. Although as its not my primary focus, its more a struggle as I havent gone looking for the answers. As you know, when an IFA advises a product switch, it has to come with a justification. That means an analysis of the existing product vs the alternative. yet, that does not appear to happen with the robo-advice services. So, how much advice is actually happening and how much of it is direct to consumer with the consumer making the decision. And the unknown future is going to be how the FOS answer complaints on "advice" when its just a menu of options the person selected from.

Al.

Lots of good stuff there. A discussion more suited to be had over a beer!

Lots of what you say is right, I've found the answers through belligerence and bloody mindedness. I invested in the architecture and am continuing to do so parallel to Fiver. If I wanted to, I could deliver four more trading styles in under a week. That's where advisers stand to gain, contra life companies and major providers. We have deftness of touch and fleet of foot on our side. Life companies are burdened with dogma. The role of networks will be vital.

Interestingly, FOS got a bit of a kicking at the FCA the other week, for being out of date and out of touch. Cottage industry? Damned right. Normal IFA hat on tomorrow! Bucks, here we come.