On your marks: Your six-point guide to RDR readiness

Julie Hepworth, group regulatory manager at Perspective Financial Group, reveals her eight step plan to get your business RDR-ready by the December 2012 deadline.

As the clock struck midnight on 31 December 2011, no doubt most of you will have raised a glass, sung a verse of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and perhaps made a New Year’s resolution or two.

I learnt a long time ago to only make resolutions that I had every intention of keeping so as not to feel disappointed later in year.

This year however is different. Putting the traditional dieting, drinking less, stopping smoking and taking more exercise to one side for a moment (not my own resolutions I hasten to add), the real, over-arching business focused-resolution has to be on, ‘What do I need to do differently to ensure that I hit the ground running on the 1 January 2013?’

By the time you read this we will already be motoring into 2012 and therefore we have less than 12 months to provide answers to that particular question. In order to ensure a positive response, here are a few of my ideas for RDR resolutions in case you haven’t already made yours:

The plan

1 Set a deadline

Firstly, set a deadline date of October 2012 for all advisers to have completed any remaining Diploma exams, plus completed their gap filling and to apply for their SPS. While the FSA has confirmed that it will allow some flexibility in that firms will have 60 days from 31 December 2012 to be granted independent verification, wouldn’t it be better to have all adviser’s RDR compliant by the first day of next year?

2 Commission

Monitor your firm’s progression with the move away from commission. Set yourself an increasing monthly adviser charging goal in terms of a percentage of new business revenue. This will give your advisers time to gain confidence with the transition in readiness for 2013.

3 Clients

It’s time to fine tune your Client Service Proposition. Listen to feedback from clients about what you already have in place, how it can be improved and make sure you act upon it. Now is the time to get it absolutely right and embed it into your daily routine and client conversations.

Ensure you have the right people in the right place to deliver your Client Service Proposition as efficiently as possible.

Make as many of your clients aware of your Client Service Proposition and seek their formal consent to delivering it, in order to ensure your existing renewal income streams are protected.