With just nine months to go before RDR, AXA Wealth has seen the first 50 adviser firms through its business transition programme, helping advisers prepare their businesses for the changes that the RDR will demand.

The firms who have participated in the business transition sessions, run by the AXA Wealth Professional Edge team, have benefitted from addressing the key issues around RDR through combining global best practice with peer interaction to future-proof their businesses, says AXA Wealth.

The business transition programme is designed to support advisers:
·        establish what they want to achieve from being in business by re-evaluating their personal and business objectives and create a target operating model to achieve these objectives
·        create their own compelling client and investment proposition through creating a storyboard to run through with existing clients to explain the new proposition and its value to them
·        create a profitable pricing strategy, which is still seen as good value by the end client
·        develop their 'reasons why' approach to validate why their new client proposition is appropriate to clients seeking a quality service
·        review the sales and servicing processes to reduce wastage of time and resource.

Delegates on the programme also experience business simulation exercises that help broaden their thinking around how they operate and how to grow productivity and profitability and improve the client experience.

Gary Thomson, head of specialist support, AXA Wealth, said: "The journey towards the RDR is only half the battle for advisers, they also need to survive throughout 2013 and beyond. The changes they make to their businesses today will help them achieve their client, employee and business goals, which is what we are here to support."

Delegates have been positive about the business transition experience. Karen McDade, McDade Financial Services, said: "Without doubt the best course I've ever attended. I have found the course invaluable and thought before the course that we were mostly ready for RDR however, the course has opened up my mind to so many different aspects which I hadn't thought of."

And Mark Lloyd, MJB Partnership, said: "I was gripped throughout the course, we knew the firm needed to change, but the course made me realise that it needed to change for the good of individuals and staff as well."