This is one of the hot topics of the time. There are many ways to consider “Value” but we think the simplest way is to look at what are you getting for your money. In other words Value = Benefit / Price.
Here we have two approaches. A report by the ILC sponsored by Royal London. This report compares those who have had advice versus those who haven’t and has fascinating findings showing a clear financial advantage for the “advised” group.
We also have our own research – covered and this report The Adviser Home Value of Advice. The method here was to ask advisers what they think their clients value most in the service they offer. So this is about the value of advice from the perspective of practicing advisers.
More on the Adviser Home Report on The Value of Advice
The immediate trigger for this piece of work was the FCA comment questioning the value of adviser’s investment advice. The report looks at this in some detail but also explores the dimensions on which advisers gain and attract clients. Price does seem to play only a small part and few market their price prior to the first meeting. We think this makes complete sense – only when you have full appreciation of a clients requirements can you set a price.
It’s clear from this research that advisers consider that clients place most value on the whole picture – both the peace of mind that comes from knowing your finances are being looked after and the value clients place on having the process looked after for them.
As always the value in the research we do is two-fold – firstly the gathering together of collective adviser views and secondly the chance it offers for you to consider your business and how you might develop it. We hope that our report gives pause for thought. There is no doubt that the regulator will continue to explore how all participants in the industry compete for business and it makes sense to consider this question for your own practice.
We also look at the question of whether an adviser can offer value to all clients or whether newer ways of meeting their needs might be required. Large numbers of advisers acknowledge that providing a full face to face service for all advisers is a challenge and are open to solutions with greater degrees of automation.
If you’d like to discuss any aspect of The Value of Advice please get in touch with is us at [email protected]
