“You cannot put a price on a business truly knowing a client and being with them over a period of many years. A client’s family also value this relationship and it is no surprise we have grown on the back of referral work from day one.”
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Despite some concerns that people can get carried away with technology, Scott sees it as something that can free up advisers’ time to spend with clients.
“We absolutely embrace technology but whether our clients do is another matter. Many do not use smartphones, for example. They may have one, but they don’t really ‘use’ it. It is our job as advisers to position whatever we put in front of them; to explain what we are using and why, and make it real to them.
“Presentations to clients should be as crisp, clear and exciting as they can be. Technology has the major part to play in this alongside a well-versed adviser team.”
Some commentators believe technology will increasingly be used for simple matters and the relationship side of advice will come into its own for clients with more complex needs. Does Scott agree?
“The easy answer is yes but, in reality, what is simple? To a person buying life cover at £50,000 for the first time on a small income – how is that simple? We need to be careful in the advice bubble that we do not make assumptions. That said, some clients would have great knowledge and many matters would be simple. Technology should put them in control. It is about risk and knowledge,” he says.
If a client does not need advice as much or at all because they have the knowledge and ability to manage their financial affairs, that is fine with Scott.
“But that is not the reality of the many clients we see. Most of the products we use are complicated, with source to completion a minefield of needing to know the hidden depths. It is also takes time. There may well be a place for a very small number of clients to control so much – but let us not build an industry around this. People truly value our time, our expertise and our knowledge.”
If a client does not need advice as much, or at all, because they have the knowledge and ability to manage their financial affairs, that is fine with Scott.
“But that is not the reality of the many clients we see. Most of the products we use are complicated, with source to completion a minefield of needing to know the hidden depths. It is also takes time. There may well be a place for a very small number of clients to control so much – but let us not build an industry around this. People truly value our time, our expertise and our knowledge.”
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Scott started his financial services career in banking – on the face of it not an obvious move for someone who spent their childhood and early adulthood writing plays, songs and being in a band. However, he sees similarities.
“Banking appealed to the storyteller in me, the art of going on a journey with a client through their lifestyle choices and reaching goals. To me, each client and each business opportunity has always been like a fresh book to write.”
He joined Lloyds TSB after university and it was there he learned an important lesson.
“I was filing cheque books and the branch manager, a scary chap, came downstairs and noticed I was filing in the bottom drawer while having top drawers open too. ‘Anthony,’ he said in a stern voice, ‘always close the top drawers before opening the lower ones if you don’t want to be squashed’.
“Literally at that point, the unit started to fall towards my young frame before he caught it. It stayed with me as a lesson in loose ends.”
After nine years, Scott joined Natwest, where he worked alongside Fiducia co-founder and chief executive Marcus Grimshaw.
“Eventually you have to leave home and mature. This is all Fiducia has been really, the act of leaving our parents who taught us all the basics and then moving on to mature into our own business,” says Scott.
The financial planning part of the business is a member of Openwork. Why not go directly authorised?
“The regulated part of the business is on an exciting journey with Openwork. We have been here from the beginning and grasp the value for us and our clients of being part of a large group.
“As good as Fiducia is, and of course we believe totally in what we do, there is a great strength in being part of such a large group to add product assessment and compliance sign off.”
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Scott says the original ethos for Fiducia is in the name. “Fiducia means trust, confidence and security. We chose the name for that reason and nothing has changed. These words remain central to all we aspire to do.”
People will always need people and that is why he sees greater use of technology as something that could perhaps help to fill the advice gap. But it falls short of being the solution.
“What do the stats tell us about current pensions, savings and protection gaps in the UK? How has the regulator and successive governments gone about building our industry to support these gaps, and is it working? The reality is that it is not.
“Technology can help and younger generations will embrace this much more but, ultimately, only legislation and honest conversations will have any serious impact.”