UnCANNed – Nick’s Pick of the News

UnCANNed is a regular but light-hearted feature brought to you from Nick Cann, CEO, at the IFP. Well known for his forthright views and straight talking, UnCANNed is Nick’s new weekly update bringing you his thoughts on a topical Financial Planning issue in true Nick Cann style.

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Blog 55# - Tour wind down - 05/03/2010

Well the world tour sadly (not really but I think that this is the right approach) came to an end yesterday in London where there was standing room only (small room?) for the last of the Fund5live roadshow. Fitness lasted out and I kept awake throughout all the presentations. I even lost some weight down to the gruelling schedule! Well done to Giles, Zara and all the groupies. I have probably seen about 500 advisers over the last couple of weeks and it is very interesting to assess the current mood. I am not surprised but there are still those who have made no effort to address RDR issues seeing them as irrelevant to their business? Or are still happy picking funds the same way that they did 20 or so years ago? There is still so much to do to move the profession forward. There was  however some very positive feedback from the majority who are already at least well on the journey.

It was good to spam up on some of the latest investment issues as well so that I can impress my friends with all my new found knowledge at the weekend (oops slipped into an old style IFA for a moment). I attended the Morningstar fund manager awards last night. These are definitely awards that do not lack for research and complete robustness. I was pleased to see Alastair Mundy from Investec winning the individual manager award. Having listened to him for the last two weeks, he is astute, entertaining and honest with it (particularly strange for a fund manager). Above all he delivers numbers to match his statements. As a contrarian he shared a number of real life examples of what this would be like. The experience of going out to dinner on your own or after a crowd of 30,000 at a football match have berated the ref, or called his parentage into question, standing up to applaud the decision. I am sure that we can all think of loads of examples but doing it consistently, you have to pretty special.

Interesting issues raised in the blogs about the failings of some of the IFAs and the role of the professional bodies. The IFP Ethics and Practice Standards committee meets in the next couple of weeks to consider some of these issues. I think that it is important that judgements are fair and based on the facts. There are certainly some issues for the IFP to consider regarding the relationship with the FSA post RDR and the individual versus the firm argument. On the one hand the management of the business get the headline sanction and perhaps individual advisers escape with nothing other than a delay in re-registration to possibly carry on what they have always been doing. On the other hand advisers who have exceeded the standards set out and do a great job for their clients are tarred with the same brush and start to find themselves in a situation where they can’t look after their clients so that ultimately the client starts to suffer. I remain concerned that the real interests of the client do not get enough focus from regulatory interaction and more needs to be done to work with the FSA in this regard. As with all these things, it is important to learn from, educate, improve and then share best practice. Ultimately the job of the professional body.

Great dinner on Wednesday night (as still off the booze can remember everything that happened). Russells launched their adviser support proposition this week which looks excellent. Have a look and see what you think. Here is a firm that is really looking to engage at all the right levels with Financial Planning and Wealth Management businesses to really add value to business transition and growth. One of the challenges during the evening was to find a compelling strapline for Financial Planning in 6/7 words (i.e. Financial Planning is .....) feel free to submit your thoughts. Phil Calvert from IFA Life has already started the ball rolling. Is there one that exists that everybody could sit behind that would start to make a difference to the consumer?

Looking at the calendar, some really good IFP events coming up with the first IFP conference of the year in Manchester next Thursday. A really exciting agenda looking at marketing, client focus and growing a business. There are a number of new speakers to the IFP with a great pedigree. Have a look at this which is definitely worth a day out in the centre of Manchester. If you haven’t already, block out the 18/19^th May for the Art&Science conference retreat. Some really top speakers have already been engaged and full details will be out very shortly. You need to focus your Sat Nav on Wokingham at this stage.

Only two weeks until the Cheltenham Festival (horses not flowers!) and really looking forward to this. If anybody is looking for people to invite, I can always think of people (usually me but I can be more creative if necessary).

A break from International rugby this weekend which I am sure will be a relief for English fans!! Wales might also have lost but at least they are exciting to watch. How boring England are! Time to catch up then on other activities. My new greenhouse is still well protected by the cardboard box that it arrived in at Christmas and the weed coverage that protects the soil in the garden is now starting to resemble a field so perhaps some work is required here. Time spent at the gym now starts to eat into this sort of time which is most frustrating. Trying now to organise a life-life balance as plenty of work to do.

Have a good weekend everybody whatever you might be doing.

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