Does your adviser business have the basics it needs to survive?

Advisers are a vital means of distribution for almost all lenders and insurers. Now, a new wave of support is emerging as more companies look to work closer with their partnered adviser businesses, and to help them find a secure foothold in an increasingly tough environment.

According to Fidelity Life Chief Distribution Officer Adrian Riminton, this kind of support is well timed for businesses facing more stringent regulatory requirements – though this is far from the only area where support is needed. He says many businesses don’t even have basic plans for their future, something which large companies are in a great position to address with their internal expertise.

“In order for adviser businesses to be sustainable, adviser businesses need to not only address the regulation piece, but also need to have businesses that are fundamentally sound on a number of different levels,” Riminton explained.

“We can see that at the moment, there isn’t that level of support being offered in the market and many advisers don’t have things like rudimentary business plans, or documented operational processes. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to make those businesses sustainable.”

“If we look at some of the things that are going to be required from a regulatory and business point of view – it’s going to be things like complaints’ registers and processes, privacy policies, health and safety policies, etc.” Riminton continued.

“From a conduct and culture point of view, there’s a large piece around identifying conflicts of interest and delivering good customer outcomes, as well as meeting basic government requirements. From the various work that has been done by the regulators, we suspect that things like complaints processes and registers probably aren’t currently where they need to be, so there is also an element of education that needs to happen there.”

Fidelity Life recently launched its own ‘Building Better Business’ programme, which takes advisers through a questionnaire and develops a tailored plan for them to help address these potential vulnerabilities. Riminton says now is also the time for advisers to think about how they want to go about licensing, and a better business programme will help inform them as to the various options available.

“We’re not distinguishing between advisers who might want to be licensed in their own right, and those who will stay financial advisers,” he stated. “That being said, we’re hoping to help inform their thought processes around where they want to take their licensing. We want adviser businesses of be sustainable, and that goes beyond just the regulatory piece.”

“It’s not only designed for businesses that might be struggling – it’s also designed for businesses that are doing well, and can validate what they’re doing and set them on track for the future.”