Compliance Archives - Tony Vidler

Is that adviser working for you?

by Tony Vidler “Is that adviser working for you?” is a question that is being constantly thrown at consumers, and there is some merit in it. Which financial adviser is going to be right: the one who charges a fee; the one who is “free”; or; the one charging a commission? Or is it the […]

How to validate your preferred solutions

by Tony Vidler Most experienced advisers have preferred solutions that they go to first. But the variety of preferred solutions from those very good advisers often concerns regulators and industry observers…and that’s usually because there is a process lacking for validating those preferences. Everyday the situation arises where one adviser recommends Company A as a […]

Eliminate tyre kickers, and value your expertise properly

by Tony Vidler Being properly valued for your expertise and eliminating the time-wasting tyre-kickers is an ongoing problem for many financial advisers. That is even more true for those making the transition from purely commission-based remuneration to generating fee-paying work where they are charging for that time or expertise. Managing the remuneration transition whilst also […]

Client Complaints: Fight it, or just Fix It?

by Tony Vidler Client complaints are a fact of life. It is virtually impossible to run a service business where everyone is happy 100% of the time, as human beings are involved and they are unpredictable creatures with ever-shifting expectations. The art of good client complaint handling is knowing when to fight and when to […]

How can you be sure that your advice will pass the test?

by Tony Vidler The nagging worry for financial advisers in today’s environment is “how can I be sure that my advice will pass the test?” The concern is understandable given that policymakers typically do not understand the difficulty of applying any sort of objective assessment of suitability to professional opinions – which is fundamentally what […]

Is Insurance Churn Really The Issue We Think It is?

by Tony Vidler Any time an insurance product is replaced by an adviser with an alternative one someone complains about “insurance churn” or the “twisting of policies” and the immediate inference is that something unethical just occurred. Sometimes that is true of course, and there are undoubtedly bottom feeders in the industry who survive by […]

How do you know your financial advice is suitable?

by Tony Vidler Knowing that your financial advice is suitable for a client is something that every professional adviser is willing to attest to, but proving it when challenged can be incredibly dificult. Advisers are increasingly being challenged and therefore seeking assurance that their practices are robust and will withstand such scrutiny. Whether that scrutiny […]

A Statement Of Advice should be a “statement”

by Tony Vidler When it comes to providing advice in writing to a client there is undoubtedly unnecessary complexity usually. In fact the proverbial “Statement Of Advice” has become anything but a “statement”. It generally takes the form of a tome… And a “tome is a scholarly work…usually large, heavy and laborious in its detail“. […]

Pro Bono work: it is still professional advice

by Tony Vidler Oddly, I was asked whether pro bono work is still considered professional advice, implying immediately that it carried some lesser responsibility on the part of an adviser simply because they were not earning revneue from it. Why would pro bono clients deserve any lesser standards of ethical behaviour, professional competency or […]

Compliant Advice: Here are the only 3 things that matter

by Tony Vidler Whenever the topic of compliance, or the “advice process”, comes up most advisers see themselves like this: Everyone is throwing everything at you with the sole intention of destroying you, right? As a consequence, compliance is largely considered a burden. As is usually the way of these things a substantial body […]

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