Q: How did you get into Financial Planning and what attracted you to the profession?
Nothing attracted me as such. I happened to be a part of the tax-based team that pioneered Financial Planning for the accountancy firm Deloitte Haskins and Sells in the 1980s. It seemed to us to fit naturally with tax planning, a view I continue to practice today.
Q: How did your career start out?
I founded Adcock Financial in 1991. Prior to that I was a senior tax manager at Deloitte Haskins and Sells from 1983-1991 where I ended up running the personal tax and Financial Planning department, in charge of 24 staff. My early working life was spent in the Inland Revenue, an experience which still helps in advising clients on tax.
Q: Can you tell us about your firm? What sort of a company is it and what services does it offer? Does it specialise in particular clients or services?
Well, following on from my first answer you may not be surprise to learn that we are a multi-service firm split into two branches: accountancy and taxation and Financial Planning. The Financial Planning arm specialises in owner-managers who also use our accountancy side, and high net worth individuals who normally also utilise our personal tax compliance service. We also offer estate planning as a stand-alone service.
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Q: What have been the key lessons you have learned in running your firm and what tips would you pass on to other planners?
Some of paths I have taken are well trodden. Along with most professions, finding, motivating and retaining key staff is probably the most important driver of success.
Often these are thin on the ground especially at the administrator level. From a client perspective the most important lesson has to be to integrate tax planning in with Financial Planning services - you can see a theme developing here.
Q: How has your team/company changes since the launch of the business and what has the journey been like?
There have been two key moments. The first was in 1998 when the award of a large group pension contact allowed me to rent office space and recruit what has been my key member of staff. The pivotal decision though happened in 2005 when we split the business into the two divisions of accountancy/tax and Financial Planning. Although tax planning spans both divisions [and often involves both teams], the differentiation has helped both clients and our marketing activities. It also provides clients with access to different team members.
The journey has to say the least, been interesting. Much the hardest part has been finding the staff to take the business to the next level, a journey that contuses. Let's say that I am not a fan of recruitment through agencies.
Q. How many clients do you have and what's the annual turnover?
We have around 100 active individual clients that might be termed "full service" individuals, to whom we provide tax and Financial Planning advice and portfolio management services. We also have around a dozen corporate Financial Planning clients who we provide employee benefits and incentive scheme advice to. Our accountancy arm looks after a further 200+ individuals and businesses, who receive tax and accountancy support. Combined group turnover is £400-500k pa.
Q. What has been your greatest source of achievement so far in running your own business and what are you proudest of?
To offer a "one-stop" experience for clients without having to pay the fee levels of a larger firm of accountants is quite an achievement for a company of our size and one which I know is relatively unique. I don't like pride so will dodge this one if you don't mind. Ask me when I've retired.
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Q. Many planners are concerned about the rising cost of regulation and other threats to their business, what do you see as the main threats to yours?
Regulation is undoubtedly an issue for us as with everyone else. Costs too are a problem but not insurmountably so. The biggest threats to ours are the fact that we are small and a lot of the Financial Planning clients look to me. I'm not immortal sadly.
We recruited an excellent paraplanner two years ago and have just made him an adviser, although he also retains some technical responsibilities. I would like another before the end of next year and may take a different approach to his/her recruitment and training.
Q. What has Twitter added to your business and how much tweeting do you do on a typical day.
Taking the second first: too much my wife would say. I deliberately start most days with a few news-related tweets, which I find can reach quite a large audience and generate some "conversation". During the rest of the day much depends on my schedule: sometimes none sometimes quite a few especially if I am travelling by train.
Apart from its obvious advantage of brevity, most people I have encountered on twitter appear sincere and happy to interact/share. The key for me has always been to turn "tweeps" into real people by meeting them. In this regard I have been quite lucky and indeed a few have turned into genuine business contacts/prospects.
The technical interaction with colleagues has also been very useful, if at times a little controversial. It has convinced me that if these individuals themselves have anything to do with it the industry is in good hands, although a few more pairs would be welcome.
What about your use of other social media sites such as Facebook?
Facebook has passed me by I'm afraid. I've attended several seminars where speakers have commented that Facebook's potential is being ignored by our industry. That may be true but I would like fellow advisers to convince me of this.
Whichever sites you use and for whatever reason, I think one vital lesson remains valid - be yourself. Social media should only be a means of communicating your views, values and persona to a wider audience. Pretence seems futile and ultimately doomed to fail, as it would in the world of face-to face relationships.
Q. If you could change anything about the Financial Planning profession what would you choose?
Post RDR we all need to move on and in some ways grow up. Stop listening to people [and there are many] who preach the "one and only" right way to run a business. There isn't. Some also need to stop comparing our industry unfavourably to the accountancy and legal profession. Having worked in one of these I know that they can be equally flawed.
There are many dedicated and excellent advisers in the profession and these need not apologise to anyone for their skills. They are a match for any accountant and lawyer within their fields and frankly often better.
Q. What's the future for Financial Planning and what are the major challenges in the coming years for the profession generally?
Leaving aside the enduring issues of regulation, the biggest is to stamp out unregulated advice and -as far as is prudently possible in a free market - unregulated and dangerous investments. Rather contradictorily at the same time, regulators and the profession alike need to do more to educate the public about taking personal responsibility for their finances and some of the decisions they take.
I would also like to see a fairer playing field between D2C and advisory businesses. As the recent annuity controversies have shown the D2C market is sometimes way too lightly regulated, to the detriment of customers.
I would also like to see financial education start earlier and definitely by secondary education. It is good to see the plans to make personal financial education to the school curriculum but I would like to see the subject much more widely. Accountancy has long been offered as a degree subject. Why not Financial Planning too?
Q. We recently had the 1000th CFP professional. Do you think the profession is going to attract lots more people in the coming years and if so why. What sort of numbers by 2020?
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I think more individuals already working in the industry will obtain Level 6 qualifications, which is a good thing. However I am not optimistic about an increase overall. Until FP becomes a subject taught at schools and universities [like law and accountancy], we will lack the channels to recruit a younger generation to the cause. This is sad. Anecdotal evidence or this view comes from the fact that AF takes at least one job experience teenager each year. Of the 20 or more who have worked for us over the last 12 summers, only one asked for Financial Planning experience. This is appalling and needs to change. Adding Financial Planning as an A level and degree subject would surely help here, although progress may be slow.
For these reasons I expect no real change in numbers overall by 2020 although a higher proportion will be qualified to CFP or Chartered level.
I would also like to see a larger representation of female advisers who bring a different approach and emphasis to a company or a business. Maybe this already happening though and I am just going to the wrong meetings.
Q. Tell us about your family and what you like doing in your spare time outside of work?
I am married with three children and four grandchildren and my wife and I live in Nottinghamshire. Our two daughters work in the business so there really is no escape.
As to time outside work the easy answer is to say relaxing.
As part of my life-plan I am trying cut down to four days a week at work. So far this is progressing slowly.
However, hobbies include birdwatching, travel and dining out. Fine wine is a passion if an expensive one and theatre and concert trips form an increasing part of our entertainment.
Foreign holidays are also a treat, especially long-haul trips where I'm usually far enough away to have no choice but to switch off. These have had to take a back seat in the last couple of years as we expand our activities in Surrey but we hope to resume our "world tour" in 2015.
My Day
This slightly depends where I'm based for the week. If I am in Nottinghamshire I usually arrive at the office around 8am. When working in Surrey I work from my residential base until 9-9.30am wherever possible in order to miss the rush-hour travel fun. My working day lasts until 6pm unless I have client meetings which in the London area are often held in the evening. I typically see 8-12 clients per week.
My working day finishes between 6pm and 7pm when I am in Nottinghamshire but nearer to 8.30pm when I am in Surrey.
Key Points
- Adcock Financial is a multi-disciplinary financial services firm, offering help to high net worth individuals and their owner managers and their businesses with a turnover up to £10m [this is depending on the service].
- We are fee based and always have been [as befits my accountancy background]. We are flexible on client payment preferences.
- I believe in making the industry completely professional although there is plenty of scope for different service options within this as well.
I'm a Certified Financial PlannerCM [plus intermediate accountancy qualification] and a Chartered Financial Planner. Founded AF in 1991. Previously I was a senior tax manager at Deloitte Haskins and Sells where I ended up running the personal tax and Financial Planning department, in charge of 24 staff. My early working life was spent in the Inland Revenue, an experience which still helps in advising clients on tax.
My wife and I live in Nottinghamshire although with around 70% of the financial planning business based in the south, I spend 50% of my time in Surrey running our Richmond office. This makes for quite a southern-based emphasis on our hobby activities.