Perspective Financial Group has completed its latest adviser conference and said it is prepared for the Retail Distribution Review (RDR).
The national IFA Group held the conference, which was sponsored by Avelo and LV=, at Fawsley Hall in Northamptonshire.
Most of Perspective’s advisers have already achieved their Level 4 qualifications in readiness for RDR and are in receipt of their Statements of Professional Standing (SPS).
Meanwhile, 30% of Perspective’s offices have now attained Chartered firm status.
Looking ahead to the new RDR regime, Perspective announced that its offices will be a mixture of independent and restricted – with a majority being the former.
At the Conference, Perspective predicted that the RDR will bring great opportunities to its advisers and highlighted many of these to its advisory team.
“Our adviser conference was a great success and has served to reassure all our advisers that, as a group, we are all on the same page with regards to RDR-readiness,” said Peter Craddock, group operations director at Perspective Financial Group.
“Unlike the doubts that have surfaced elsewhere, all our advisers are grateful for the opportunities that RDR presents in terms of the enhanced professionalism of the industry – and greater parity with those operating in other industries – as well as the increased transparency it will instil in the advice process. The decreased competition that will result once other advisers have left the industry is also a boon to those who are committed to staying in it for the long run.
“As a Group, we are proud of our strategy and our model and believe we have market-leading profit margins. Three-fifths of our income is recurring and we are aiming to increase this to 70%, while continuing to grow new business levels. With 85% of our business concentrated on personal wealth management, we believe there are ample opportunities to further improve our standing among such individuals in the new regulatory era, and will provide our offices with all the support and encouragement they need for their businesses to flourish.
“At Perspective we remain committed to increasing the number of Chartered offices in our ranks and to ensuring our advisers go that extra mile for their clients.
“We have consciously followed a route of sharing best practice at our adviser events. Rather than our management team, or product providers, pontificating to our advisers about how they should thrive in the world we believe they respond much more positively to hearing from their peers who are already thriving in the new world.”
