Educating Rita (and David and Robin)

Three advisers explain what they are (or are not) doing to educate clients about certain changes due at the end of the year.

We have a saying in the newsroom: research never finds, it only suggests. But what happens when the results are pretty much unanimous?

A poll of some 740 advisers by PanaceaIFA.com suggested there are very few clients with even the faintest idea about the Retail Distribution Review (RDR).

But, with every client affected one way or another, should more be done to educate them? We garnered the views of three advisers…

Carl Lamb, managing director, Almary Green

“We went live with our RDR proposition on 1 February. We have produced a marketing brochure explaining what’s going on and what our proposition is. It will be sent out to all clients as well as our professional introducers.

“We have also introduced a new client-agreed remuneration document. The idea behind this is we want all our people working on it 11 months early so we are not going into it cold. From now on, RDR will also be discussed at every client review and new clients will be dealt with on an RDR-compliant basis.

“We think people will understand the issue better with face-to-face meetings. I think clients are very ignorant about RDR. Some advisers are ignorant [about it] as well.”

Alan Lakey, partner, Highclere Financial Services

“I am not communicating RDR to clients. I am in the process of sending out my winter 2011/2012 newsletter and that does not mention the RDR at all.

To be honest, I am not particularly keen to communicate the message at the moment because the FSA has still not given us the full, fleshed-out structure of the review. For that reason, I have not settled on a definite way of doing things.

“I will probably start getting the message out around late summer. It will be in the form of a newsletter. I want to use it as an opportunity to gain more business. I am also happy to meet people and discuss it face-to-face.

“My clients are not at all informed about the RDR – the average person has never heard of it.”

Adam Stewart, client services manager, MPL Wealth Management

“Beginning last year, MPL began the task of segmenting its client base. We are in the process of mailing all of our clients to let them know what the RDR is and how it affects them.

“This year I am ensuring that RDR is an agenda item when I conduct review meetings with clients. It is important to me that clients know the value as well as the cost of the service they receive from me. At the moment, clients are largely unaware of RDR.”