Having been in this industry for more than 23 years, I have seen many changes. One of the biggest of course has been FOFA (Future of Financial Advice), and the need for advisers to change not only their business models, but also the way they interact with clients, their fee structures, and how they deal with stakeholders in the industry who have a vested interest in their success.
Of course, one group of stakeholders to be considered are fund managers, who are crucial to providing investment products to clients.
They are equally as crucial, I believe, in providing advisers with information and education which they can use to help inform their clients about markets, economies and ultimately their money.
This is where I can see a big shift in the way fund managers interact with advisers moving forward. And of course, most managers would say they already are; which is true to an extent.
There is still however, a huge opportunity for fund managers to create educational content that is used not only by the adviser, but also by their clients.
In the marketing world, there is a need at the end of the day to sell product. Fund managers must educate on their products, and then measure the return on investment of marketing these to advisers.
However, I have seen time and time again, that good educational material, that does not put product first, is greatly appreciated by advisers, and consumed by their clients.
It’s why we built the function on our adviser platform, for advisers to share content with their clients.
This content is technical enough for the adviser to take information on, but still understandable by the client.
More and more, advisers are advocating to their clients co-responsibility and the need to truly understand their wealth creation plans. And advisers need great tools to help them do that.
While it’s important for fund managers to train advisers on how their products work, it’s equally important for them to take on the responsibility of educating the end investor, at least with the creation of good materials the adviser can use, without looking like they are selling.
For advisers, asking their fund managers for more video assets, shareable education and good ongoing communications is a must. We believe that fund managers are a valuable resource. Their smarts and global reach have them well placed to take on the role of educator AND investor.
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