by Barry Horner
“I was recently interviewed by Citywire about the leadership changes which are currently taking place at Paradigm Norton, and in the write up, I chuckled to myself when I read that I had been described as an ‘industry veteran’.
It was a timely reminder that I have now been in financial services for over 30 years. My early career was in accountancy where most certainly accountancy is widely considered to be a ‘profession’.
Back in the day, when I moved into financial planning, it was truly like the wild west. No real clear standards, no clear body of knowledge (as required by the definition of what constitutes a profession) and professional exams were very much seen as an ‘optional extra’.
Training events that I attended were most often centred around ‘how can I maximise my commission’ with one practitioner presenting on the day boasting that he had bought a Porsche with the sale proceeds of one life assurance product!
In those early days, what for me was missing was one very important component and that was ‘the client’. Seldom did I hear about doing things in the best interest of the client. No one knew what was meant by acting as a ‘fiduciary’ or being the client’s ‘trusted adviser’.
Thankfully times have changed and for most firms, client service and the client experience are now front and centre.
To be a ‘profession’ however, the public need to recognise us as a profession. It’s not something that we bestow on ourselves. You have only to Google ‘professions’ and you will read medicine, accountancy, law and teaching, but you will not read the words ‘financial planning’. We are not there yet.
When we talk about our relationship with law firms, we collectively refer to them as our ‘Professional connections’. Have you ever wondered whether they see us in the same light? I hope that they do.
Central to what we have done at Paradigm Norton is playing our part in raising the profile of financial planning as a widely recognised profession. It’s one of our foundational vision statements. For over 30 years I have always sought to play my part. I have chaired the UK professional body (the Institute of Financial Planning) that was merged into the CISI. I was on the Board and subsequently the Chair of the international Financial Planning Standards Board FPSB, that sets financial planning standards across 26 countries. Many others in our business now play their part on various committees, in leading professional events and conferences and being on the Boards of the various professional bodies.
If we do genuinely want to see a profession emerge then we all need to play a part. It will take the collective effort of the current 28,000 [Source: FCA 2023] or so advisers to act like professionals and do all they can, both individually and collectively to get the message out that ‘life can be better with a financial planner’.
The foundations are being built and it’s so encouraging to see some of the significant changes which have taken place post-RDR in 2012. We now have minimum professional standards, we have continuing professional development (CPD), we have a code of conduct and professional ethics. No longer can someone sell double glazing on the Friday and a pension the following Monday!
The piece that is currently still missing is public awareness and recognition. So, what might we collectively do about this?
I consider it the duty of all financial planners and all financial planning firms to do five things.
- The first one is the easy one, as hopefully we are all doing it anyway and that’s to ‘set a high bar’ and maintain high professional standards. This we do by pursuing relevant CPD and being lifelong learners. Really understanding what it takes to be a professional financial planner all fell into place for me when in 1996 I became a Certified Financial Planner.
- Secondly, something that will help our own brands and simultaneously build trust with the public is sharing our success stories – something that we are not great at. We have clients whose lives have been profoundly changed for the better from having proper professional financial planning. We need to become better story tellers.
- Thirdly – we need to become educators and advocates. We run financial education sessions in local schools and increasingly with the adult children of our clients. We need to bring financial literacy programmes to our local communities. Financial literacy is an important life skill that can help children make smarter decisions and set them up for a financially comfortable future.
- Professional Bodies – They need our help. Join a Board, offer support for conferences and events. Help them promote events such as Financial Planning Week. Imagine the impact if we all lent a hand?
- Finally, work with your local academic institution to promote financial planning to graduates looking for a career. We have more people leaving the profession right now than joining it. This is a trend that needs to be reversed. Coventry University are looking to launch a financial planning centre of excellence. Reach out to them and see how you might play your part.
It will be a combination of these strategies that will cause the tide to turn. I long for a day when financial planning is seen alongside law and accountancy as a viable option for those graduating or for those wishing to change careers.”
