Tuesday lunchtime and I spoke with some of our Irish IFA colleagues in Dublin about the impact the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) has had upon a firm of Chartered Financial Planners like Informed Choice.
The Irish equivalent of the RDR has not arrived yet but all the signs are that it will.
The whole European financial services scene has changed and will continue to change with most abolishing commission and some going even further, with the Netherlands banning even the facilitation of adviser charging.
On Wednesday I find myself having crossed the Shannon river system in the West of Ireland to arrive in the lovely coastal town of Galway.
My final “gig” will be in Cork way down in the south of the Emerald Isle before flying home this afternoon.
Why do I do this? Well one of the really good things in the financial services world that I have experienced over the past 38 years is the tremendous amount of sharing that takes place.
In the run up to the RDR in the Uk we shared best practice sessions with over 70 IFA business owners.
I find myself talking at conferences about the subject of business change on a regular basis.
There is relatively little direct competition between IFAs (and certainly none between IFAs in the UK and those in the Republic of Ireland) so it is actually very rewarding to engage with our peers.
As I said earlier the RDR has not yet arrived in Ireland but I have little doubt that the Irish version will arrive at some point. There is therefore the early adopter advantage to be gained.
I am not advocating that our Irish colleagues should immediately abandon being paid by commission, just like in the UK there is relatively little published evidence that commission introduces either product or provider bias, but they do need to think very carefully about certain aspects of business change.
The agenda that I share with them is the same as the change agenda we used as a business starting back in 2004.
We look at proposition and how it’s value might be articulated to the potential consumer.
We examine the delivery of different propositions to different client segments.
We explore the systems and processes that need to be in place to deliver that proposition efficiently and profitably.
And we certainly look at the way people in a firm might work together as a team to give a great client experience by following robust systems and processes.
The workshop attendees are an open minded and challenging group and I have little doubt that they will be working hard in their businesses to make them as future proof as possible.
Well done to Friends First the Irish insurer for sponsoring and organising these workshops for their supporters.
