Working in mergers and acquisitions is a busy enough role at the best of times, but in the run-up to R-Day it has been particularly manic. Although we have stayed out of the fire sales that have cropped up as the deadline edges closer, we are always on the look-out for quality opportunities and have had our hands full completing the acquisitions we did decide to undertake.
As so much of what I do is concerned with adding new offices to our group, it was nice to focus on our existing core for a few days by attending our adviser conference recently. The mood in the camp was certainly buoyant and there was definitely the sense that RDR presents an opportunity for advisory practices rather than the threat that some camps have identified it as.
What really came out of the event was how prepared all our offices are for the start of January changeover. With over 10 weeks still to go, virtually all our staff have already achieved their Level 4 qualifications and the vast majority have also obtained their Statement of Professional Standing too. On top of this, a healthy percentage of our offices have attained Chartered status and a number of others are working their way towards swelling these ranks.
It really is a breath of fresh air to see advisers and offices in general willing to go so far beyond the minimum requirement for the purposes of self-improvement and to ensure the advice that the client receives really is as good as it can be. This is in marked contrast to the countless stories I’ve encountered in the trade press from some quarters that seem to regard the RDR as some sort of death knell, when in reality it is anything but.
It was also interesting to witness at first hand the blend we have as a group between independent and restricted offices. There seems to be a school of thought that organisations should stick to one or the other, but we are comfortable in the belief that our model can happily accommodate both. In essence, this reflects the way we operate as a group in that we are willing to offer our offices all the advice and support they need, but are also happy to respect the way they want to operate without being too authoritarian. The fact that all our offices operate according to our Group Client Service Proposition means that consistency is achieved across the board in any case.
All this may be coming across as a little too self-congratulatory, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with advisers giving themselves a little pat on the back once in a while. Despite the opportunities that RDR undoubtedly presents, preparation for the new regime has involved a degree of upheaval from negotiating bureaucracy to the major model changes that the new rules dictate and our advisers have navigated this process with the minimum of fuss.
Here’s hoping that the rest of the industry shares our optimism for what lies ahead – if they do, then the next few months should not be an uncomfortable ride at all.
David Hesketh is group M&A manager at Perspective Financial Group