Key challenge for advisors in 2023 - Report from Schroders

Report
March 2023
Schroders

At Philanthropy Impact we are seeing increasing evidence to confirm, what we have always known, that meeting client expectations around environmental and social impact are one of the key challenging factors for professional advisors, and the challenge is becoming more pressing with the rise of a new kind of client and new FCA regulations.

The key findings from a recent report by our member firm Schroders Annual Advisor Report 2022  supports this evidence particularly around 'sustainability'.  To meet consumer need, to be truly customer-led firms will need to ensure advisors are upskilled, and equipped with the knowledge to discuss values, goals, ambitions, and motivations with clients.

Key Finding: Sustainable investing is here to stay

76% of you are specifically considering sustainability and ESG factors as part of your fund selection process but 37% do not think they receive enough information to demonstrate that an investment manager actively engages is driving change.

With the FCA new consumer duty at the forefront of all firm’s minds - demonstrating the firm is meeting requirements for the shift towards customer led services, specifically around impact is a huge and costly challenge. To be authentically customer-centric, organisations must understand their customers. Not just in the sense of service delivery requirements to meet traditional fiduciary duty, but in the full holistic human experience which includes impact across the spectrum of capital. Their expectations, goals, motivations, and objectives both financial and non-financial.

Only with this depth of insight can you begin to establish a cultural alignment with your customers, firms must be demonstrating values alignment, and understand without assumption what a customer wants for their wealth – and the route of this is in CPD training outside of the FCA regulated space. Soft skills training in talking values, understanding clients – including one’s own unconscious biases, specifically when working with the next gen and succession planning. 

Key Finding: Wealth transfer and the NextGen

59% of you are concerned that your business could lose assets as wealth transfers between generations but only 26% have a specific proposition for targeting the transfer of family wealth. Unsurprisingly, this is reflected in the ageing profile of client bases and the declining number of advisers prepared to advise clients with less than £50,000 to invest.

Creating solutions to these challenges with Philanthropy Impact

Philanthropy Impact has 25 years of experience in advising clients on their impact across the spectrum of capital. Our in-house experts have designed two learning journeys for professional advisors (private client advisors, wealth management, private banking, financial advisors, tax and legal sectors) that really address this area for firms. Training that is CPD accredited and has been delivered in partnership with trade industry bodies such as The Investment Association, PIMFA and UKSIF and is endorsed by CISI.

We work with you to understand the often confusing, and sometimes challenging, world of environmental and social impact right across the spectrum of capital, and how to discover your customers values, motivations and goals for their wealth. We support you to find solutions to this rising challenge whilst also strengthening and deepening client relationships.

Training Workshops - cross discipline open sessions

Advisors can individually join one of our regular workshops, and network with others in the industry and share in cross discipline client experiences – please see links below to our two courses and register your interest now.

Changing Times - How to meet client expectation for Philanthropy and Social Investment Advice - REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

Increased Customer Centricity - Achieving Positive Outcomes on Customer Support and Consumer Understanding - REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

Bespoke tailored in-house training and learning discovery journeys.

Firms can speak to us today about our bespoke in-house workshops, which would:

  • Allow for bespoke training to reflect a firm’s needs helping them to achieve their business outcomes more efficiently and effectively.
  • Demonstrate the firm is upskilling the workforce in values-based conversations, specific to discussing with clients their values, motivations, ambitions, and goals via a lens of purpose wealth strategies designed to meet regulatory requirements and changing client needs.
  • Equip your team with the necessary skills to engage in these types of conversations with colleagues, clients and other stakeholders confidently and to create a culture shift within the firm from the ground up; achieving buy-in.
  • Additionally, this in-house service will provide you with a review of current services and followed by the design and delivery of a bespoke training workshop and follow-up with your firm.

By bringing the training programme in-house, your front facing private client team will have the opportunity to learn in a familiar environment and interact with colleagues in a way that is conducive to effective learning, also the training can be highly tailored to fit the products and services you currently offer so make it as applicable to your firm as possible.

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST FOR IN-HOUSE TRAINING 

This report is tagged under:

  • Civil society
  • City Philanthropy
  • Family philanthropy
  • Impact measurement
  • Philanthropy Advice
  • Philanthropy stats & trends
  • Social investment