The mass marketing of financial planning

Tue, 9 Mar 2010 17:33:23 GMT

It’s daylight savings this week -- brought to you by Sun Life Financial. At least that’s what the newest marketing strategy from the financial giant will have you believe. The company partnered with the Weather Network to brand the event that launches Canadians into longer, sunnier days. Ten-second commercials remind listeners to “spring ahead” with a solid plan for the future. Four times a day, the network’s “sunny days” report reminds us that every sunny day this year is sponsored by Sun Life.

The economic downturn, along with the promise of a long recession, has paved the way for mass marketing in the financial planning industry. Banks and financial institutions like Sun Life are selling the idea that good advice has value. And that’s good for the entire industry.

“It’s been around for decades and decades, but only now are Canadians starting to hear about this service called financial planning,” said Rona Birenbaum, co-founder of Toronto-based financial planning firm Caring for Clients. In the early days, larger financial institutions like banks never used to talk about big picture planning.

“But they looked at the competition -- people like me -- and our relationship with clients. Now they’re doing mass-market advertising about the importance of having a financial plan. They finally figured out that serving the broader needs of a client is the best way to get client loyalty.”

Read the full article at The Montreal Gazette here.

Click this to post to Twitter

CFP Board hikes requirement for certification exam

Tue, 9 Mar 2010 09:44:16 GMT

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. is raising the education requirement for planners and advisers seeking to take the group's certification examination.

Candidates will have to take a three-credit course, equivalent to 45 hours of class work, on how to prepare and present financial plans, before they can qualify to take the board's 10-hour exam. The CFP Board authorizes 218 colleges and continuing-education programs to prepare people for the exam.

“Students will have to develop and present a financial plan,” Charles A. Moran, chairman-elect of the CFP Board, said its business update webinar last week, noting that the requirement is meant to bridge theory with practice.

The CFP Board, which has been discussing the requirement since 2005, said it will give registered programs “adequate time to develop and implement the new courses,” Mr. Moran said. The new requirement is not likely to take effect for CFP certificate candidates until early 2012, said Kevin Keller, chief executive of the CFP Board.

Read the full article at InvestmentNews.com here.

Click this to post to Twitter

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Cognitive Fluency and the Financial Planner

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 03:15:30 GMT

This is a guest post from Richard Pelletier, Principal of Lucid Content in Portland, Oregon. In this second post of a two part series, Richard shares how advisors might consider communicating with their prospective clients through their websites.

In my last post, I talked about how important it is for financial planners (among others) to use language that is customer-centric or customer focused. The larger point was that customer focused language indicates where your focus is, it signals a respect for your customer and it helps you connect more genuinely with her.

Today, I’d like to share some thoughts about cognitive fluency, a fascinating, hot topic of study among psychologists. Cognitive fluency touches on the ways that people respond to the different approaches that you take as you try to educate, inform and persuade them.

What is Cognitive Fluency?

Simply defined, cognitive fluency is a measure of how easy it is to think about something. And, not surprisingly, people prefer to think about things that are easy to think about rather than the opposite. This is common sense, right? If you define financial terms with insider language or difficult to decipher words and sentences, then you’ve made it much harder for me to think about the very thing you want me to consider. On the other hand, if you keep it simple….

I know what you''re saying -- I''m stating the obvious. Yes, absolutely, but what’s really important here are the ramifications of how cognitive fluency affects and shapes peoples decision making process.

And that’s where our story gets very interesting.

Fonts, Repetition, Outcomes

It turns out that people are more likely to believe as true -- and act on -- information that is simple and presented clearly. Let me repeat this because I think it''s a really important point. People are more likely to believe as true, and act on, information that is presented to them simply and clearly. And perhaps even more amazing, this even applies to such decisions as font choice! Repetition and rhyming (hence my title: A Stitch in Time Saves Nine) may also play a role in moving people toward a more favorable view of your words.

In combination, these seemingly subtle changes can actually cause people to be more forgiving, more adventurous and more honest about their own personal shortcomings. Fascinating isn''t it?

So the next time you create a client questionnaire that has a series of questions about money history, attitudes about money and so on, think about this fact. The quality of your presentation – the look and the feel of the document itself, as well as the clarity and simplicity of the questions – is going to affect how truthfully people will answer your questions.

So I would posit that it’s not only your copy that should be customer focused, your font choice should be customer focused, too.

From “Easy = True” by Drake Bennet in The Boston Globe January 31, 2010:

"Because it shapes our thinking in so many ways, fluency is implicated in decisions about everything from the products we buy to the people we find attractive to the candidates we vote for - in short, in any situation where we weigh information. It’s a key part of the puzzle of how feelings like attraction and belief and suspicion work, and what researchers are learning about fluency has ramifications for anyone interested in eliciting those emotions.”

An Adaptive Shortcut

Cognitive fluency seems to function as an adaptive shortcut. In a world where lots of things clamor for our attention, it helps us figure out which things are worth our precious time. The story of cognitive fluency does take some interesting turns. Take disfluency. An example of disfluency might be a difficult to understand concept delivered in a difficult to read font. To some people, disfluency suggests innovation.

So let’s circle back to the world of financial planners again. You have a website, and if you’re like most people, the goals you have for your website are many. You are trying to educate, inform, persuade, generate leads, and convert visitors into paying customers.

Weighing Information

You have a LOT to say and offer and your site visitors are weighing your information. They are trying to decide whether what you say is true, whether they should be suspicious of it and so on. And they don’t have a lot of time.

So given what we now know about cognitive fluency, it becomes terribly important – beyond the appeal and value of a great design – to simplify and clarify your home page especially, as well as the other key pages of your site.

One of the challenges that all of us face as website owners is the (very strong) temptation to load up our home page with too much information. It’s understandable, but it’s important to not give in to that impulse.

We now have proof that people tend to respond more positively to simple, straightforward messages in an attractive, legible font. Always keep your customers in the forefront of your considerations and wealth and prosperity will be yours.

Good luck!

About Richard Pelletier Richard Pelletier is the Principal of Lucid Content, a website copywriting firm. For more information visit www.lucidcontent.com.

About Kristen Luke Kristen Luke is the Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, a firm dedicated to providing marketing strategies and support for financial advisors. Kristen works with independent advisors to develop effective marketing plans and provides the back office support required to implement the strategies. For more information, visit www.wealthmanagementmarketing.net.

Bigmouthmedia unveils British financial sector's top social networking executives

Sun, 7 Mar 2010 12:22:28 GMT

A bigmouthmedia survey has identified the UK Finance sector's biggest users of online social networking tools and confounded many expectations by revealing that the Finance sector has embraced the social media phenomenon more readily than those in other established industries.

Some 74% of the leading executives surveyed regularly engage in the use of tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, a statistic which demonstrates the extent to which a normally conservative sector has adopted the latest working trends.

Their performance compares extremely favourably with that of leading executives in the FTSE 100. In a bigmouthmedia survey earlier this year, of the FTSE executives sampled only 25% actively engaged in social networking, compared to 85% of business leaders representing companies from the Sunday Times Fast Track 100.

"The evidence clearly shows that the Britain's financial businesses are rapidly coming to terms with the social media revolution. However, there is still over a 10% gap between the use of social media by finance execs and those in Fast Track companies" said Chris Cathcart, Senior Finance Strategist at bigmouthmedia.

Read the full article at bigmouthmedia here.

Click this to post to Twitter

Begin with yourself, get kids moneywise

Thu, 4 Mar 2010 18:42:09 GMT

Iyer invested, but it was erratic; the plan helped him make systematic savings and take his goals seriously.

Kids do what parents do and not what they say. The best financial education for kids is to see the parents planning and executing a financial plan. But sometimes it doesn’t work like that and special education is needed.

Subramanian Iyer doesn’t want his children to miss out on understanding money - something that he regrets learning too late. It didn’t help that as the first-born, he was shielded from serious issues. “Though I was the eldest of three children, I was always pampered. In fact, I am still treated like a kid,” says Iyer, now 45.

Iyer wants to inculcate the value of money and the importance of managing finances in his two sons - Varun, 17, and Pranav, 12. “My elder son is well within that age when he needs to know these things,” he says. The earlier, the better for the younger one.

Read the full article at LiveMint.com here.

Click this to post to Twitter

Failing to deliver the goods...?

Thu, 4 Mar 2010 16:44:28 GMT

It’s easy to market your business (and services) but, to do this successfully; you have to deliver to a high standard. For example, take a well known pizza restaurant chain; they tantalise you with 50% off the bill and/or buy one pizza get one half price to help generate business. One would assume that anticipating response would be part of the marketing plan, put in place prior to such an offer. So, you take the bait of the offer. When ringing, you’re told there’s no need to book. So, you turn up, it is extremely busy with a queue of people waiting.

You take a deep breath and decide to return in 30 minutes. When you do, the wait is reduced to 5-10 minutes to be seated until your waitress, who creates the perception of an ‘I’m just going to sit you down at your table and forget about you’ person, seats you. You approach your table with the expectation that you’ll be going hungry for another 30 minutes

And so the wait continues. We have to ask to order. Delivering a good experience? Definitely not!

Compare this experience with a well known pizza takeaway/delivery company. No discount known or coupons shoved through your door when you call to order a pizza. You’re asked if you have a promotional code; you answer ‘no’ but they give you £10 off anyway. What? Why? The response from the company: “Just because we can!” Already they’ve gone above and beyond before you’ve even smelt the food.

So far, so good. You receive the food in good time however, there’s one issue – the pizza is the wrong size. You feel bad complaining, given the discount, so you decide to carry on regardless without the extra two slices of pizza! Half an hour later, there’s a knock on the door and low and behold, they’re there delivering you a small pizza to apologise for their mistake.

Now which are you more likely to revisit?

It’s all very well marketing your services and pulling out all the stops to get customers but what’s the point when you unable to cope with the volumes you get in response to it? And, most of the visitors are unlikely to come back.
More consumers share good experiences but bad experiences are discussed more frequently. Recent statistics show that out of those who experienced problems with a business, only 6% contacted the company, but 31% went on to tell friends and family. Of those, 8% told one person, 8% told two people, and 6% told six or more people. These same statistics found that out of 100 dissatisfied customers a retailer stands to lose between 32 and 36 current or potential customers.

These statistics illustrate the power of negative word of mouth and the retelling of stories. Indeed, and according to the study, “the complaints have an even greater impact on shoppers who were not directly involved as the story spreads and is embellished. Almost half those surveyed, 48%, reported they have avoided a store in the past because of someone else’s negative experience.”

Word of mouth criticism has a bigger effect on these businesses’ than most would think.

Sources to recognise and thank: www.google.co.uk

How do you describe Financial Planning - Is it irresistible?

Thu, 4 Mar 2010 09:25:09 GMT

Several IFA Life members spent last evening with Russell Investments at a dinner in London which was arranged with the Institute of Financial Planning. Russell steered an excellent discussion on the future of financial planning and it was interesting to see comparisons between US and UK financial planning firms.

Out of the discussion came questions on how the profession communicates the meaning of financial planning to consumers and wondered whether we are missing a trick.

We wanted to post this as a question to IFA Life members, and we would be very grateful if as many people as possible would help us with this. In short:

Can you come up with an ‘irresistible sound bite’ in one sentence which you might use to market your financial planning service and which clearly describes exactly what you do. It will be ‘irresistible’ in the sense that clients will be likely to repeat it to their friends and colleagues when referring them to you.

To say thank you for taking part, Russell Investments are offering an iPod Touch and IFA Life is offering a Flip high definition video camera in a draw.

Again, it would be great if as many people as possible would help us with this. Please post below – thank you.

Phil

Click this to post to Twitter

Think social, not company. IFAs cannot afford to ignore these findings

Thu, 4 Mar 2010 08:20:59 GMT

Decision makers in small businesses are much more likely to look for information about your company in social networking sites, than on your own website or blog. That's the significant conclusion you can draw from the Business.com study of how you can engage small business decision makers through social media. This is a significant piece of research of almost 3,000 companies employing from 1 to 99 people, in a broad range of industry sectors. The findings should not be ignored.

Social media is now the most important online activity your business should concentrate on

What the study found was that across all industries, engagement using social media was very high. In fact, in all industries decision makers in small business look to social networking sites for information on suppliers, rather than look on the company's own blog. Around two-thirds of business people who use social media will look at your company's profile on a social networking site, such as LinkedIn or Facebook as their primary means of finding out about you. This implies that only one in three of your potential target customers are actually bothering to go to your website in the first instance.

That's important and should not be passed by lightly. So let's repeat what the study finds. More social media users will go to a social networking site to find out about your business than will look at your own blog. So, perhaps it is time to ask ourselves a question. How much time do we invest in our own websites, compared with our presence on social media? If your website gets most of your attention, it could be time to switch.

The Business.com study also found some interesting changes in the way people prefer their information. Although there are differences between sectors, on average the preferred method of gaining information online using social media is...wait for it....webinars and podcasts. That's right; people now prefer to watch presentations online, or to listen to audio recordings than anything else. In spite of all the hype, Twitter was the least preferred method of finding information on a company.

So, what areas should you be concentrating on, in order to get your company noticed using social media? Here is the list of methods you should adopt (according to the results of the study) in descending order:

1. Webinars

2. Podcasts

3. User reviews and ratings

4. Profiles on social networking sites

5. Company blog

6. Forums

7. Q&A sites, such as Yahoo! Answers and Business.com Answers

8. Content sharing sites, such as Scribd and Issuu

9. RSS Feeds

10. Discussions on social networking sites

11. Social bookmarking, such as Digg

12. Twitter

The list varies somewhat from sector to sector - for example, in the Advertising and Marketing industry Twitter moves up the list several places, whilst in the legal sector, taking part in forums becomes second on the list. However, broadly what this study shows is the significance of social media to every business.

Having a website is, of course, essential. It gets you people who don't use social media - around 40% of people on average. But the rest of the world is now so focused on the social aspect of the internet, you can no longer afford to ignore it. In fact, this study shows it should be your number one priority.

Graham Jones
Internet Psychologist

Click this to post to Twitter

For Sale: A one year old rally, no careful owners.

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 11:17:43 GMT

March 3rd 2009 marked the bottom of the UK bear market. One year later the FTSE 100 is up 51%. While that is pleasing it is outclassed by the FTSE 250 Index that is up 63% while the FTSE Small Cap is a staggering 69% higher. Have these gains arisen because profits in the constituent companies have risen by that much? Alas no.

In the case of the large companies profits have actually been pretty pedestrian over the last twelve months. Indeed, mining companies probably reported profits in 2009 that were about half the levels of 2008. Oil companies too all had much lower profits as oil prices fell. The saving grace for these global megacap stocks was their international exposure that enabled them to benefit from strong growth in emerging markets. Nevertheless, overall profits certainly did not rise by over a third.

In the case of the Mid Caps the performance was, if anything, even worse. This group of companies has a much stronger focus on the UK and includes sectors like house building, car retailers and many consumer facing industries. Most importantly over a quarter of the sector is financial stocks. Overall, they had a torrid time in 2009, and profits are, in many cases, sharply down on 2008. Finally, last but not least, the Small Caps are a mixed bag of companies that are much more sensitive to the economic winds because of their small size and can be best be described as the canaries of the financial world. They too had a tough time in 2009 and certainly did not increase profits, let alone anything like 69%.

So why then did the smaller companies do so much better in this rally than the big caps? The answer lies in the events leading up to the market trough. In 2008 the financial crisis led to a dramatic reappraisal of risk and it suddenly become important to price it correctly after years when it had been ignored.

Risk is associated with many things but an important factor is liquidity, the ability to get out of an asset when you want. Small cap stocks have famously been described as lobster pot stocks; easy to get into, impossible to get out of. As the true scale of the financial crisis became apparent at the end of 2008 the small cap and mid cap sectors cratered as investors exited the riskiest assets. A lack of liquidity meant brokers could not find buyers and prices were marked down sharply. The process continued in the first few months of 2009 and valuations of all equity markets, but especially small and mid caps, reached distress levels in the first week of March. It was then the Bank of England started its programme of quantitative easing. Although it had been flagged in advance the start of the programme gave investors the confidence to reprice stocks on a going concern basis rather than as basket cases only an accountant away from liquidation.

Over the next six months investors started to look at the whole market, but especially the small and mid cap stocks, on the assumption that eventually business conditions would normalise and that the recession would end eventually, even if no one knew when. So the market did what it loves to do, but is actually very bad at, which was to “vote” on all the beaten up shares and revalue them on expectations that they would return to profitability. All the evidence from long term studies on stock market returns, such as those from Barclays and Credit Suisse, show conclusively that the bulk of returns comes from reinvesting dividends and allowing the magic of compound interest to do its work. It does not come from chasing capital growth.

In the rally of 2009 all that was forgotten as investors clambered about car dealers and house builders in the expectation that profits would return to previous levels. However, by anticipating the recovery, the market has risen on valuation rather than earnings. It is the expectation of profits rather than actual delivery of earnings that has boosted share prices. Nowhere is that hope higher than in the mid and small caps.

This rally has been a painful experience for value investors who prefer the tangible evidence of dividends rather than the faith of recovery investors who expect balance sheets to deliver the same profits as before. The bounce has put the market on a much higher valuation than a year ago and has left more conservative investors behind. This is best measured by comparing the dividend yields of the three size categories. The FTSE 100 yields 3.4%, the FTSE 250 2.6% while the FTSE Small Cap yields 2.7%. It will take time for compound interest to work in favour of dividend paying stocks again. But there is no doubt it will happen and, as it does, funds with a value bias will start to close the performance gap on growth and momentum funds.

www.themunrofund.com

Income Protection � Is too much choice a good thing?

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 09:41:19 GMT

It’s no secret that income protection can be a complicated sale. One particular question that keeps cropping up more often is whether the increasing number of product innovations within the income protection sector is actually making life simpler or more difficult for advisers and ultimately the consumer? With price still widely considered to be the main driving factor, how far can product innovation actually go and what tools are needed to make life easier for advisers?

Process complexity

Current processes mean that advisers have a great deal of information to verify before they are able to offer their clients a comprehensive range of options, including the value of employee benefits the client is entitled to. In addition, the underwriting process can be lengthy and premiums are often revised upwards as the client provides further information. To top this off there is a healthy dose of RDR to factor in to the equation. What impact will the selling of income protection products under COB rules have on the existing investment linked holloway style products?

Range of Options

Income protection products have always been viewed as the more comprehensive and more customer centric product when compared to their poor relation - payment protection insurance. Being comprehensive in nature there are already a few areas of complexity which require careful attention from the adviser.

One example is that many income protection products have differing definitions of ‘incapacity’ and many advisers who are not familiar with these variations may not be clear on what definitions are available – for example, is it own occupation, suited occupation, functional abilities / assessment tests, activities of daily living or activities of daily working? What cover do each of these options provide and what are the associated costs?

Deferred periods are another area needing careful consideration and requiring the client to check what is available via their employer and ultimately what can be afforded. We are now starting to see new products coming onto the market from the friendly societies that offer one and two week options and these options also play a part in suitability of the product to the consumer.

With all of these complexities and the potential for client displeasure, it’s not surprising advisers have been hesitant from entering the income protection arena.

Product Innovation

The last few years have seen some very clever product innovations within the income protection market and the trend is likely to increase as the industry as a whole continues to attempt to reduce the protection gap and, help bring income protection to the fore of consumers’ minds.

Many of these product innovations are designed to make cover more affordable and more accessible but ultimately sacrifices have to be made in the cover available as a result.

Take limited period cover plans as an example, i.e. where the policy pays out up to a maximum of two to five years, there has been a notable increase in the number of these products making their way into the market over the last 12 months. Limited period payment plans help provide simple and very cost effective solutions, often with very attractive options such as age-costed premiums, own occupation definitions of incapacity, short deferred periods and a varying range of minimum and maximum monthly benefits. The customer only has a couple of decisions to make (how much cover they want and over what claim period), before deciding which option is best suited to their needs. Add to this simplified application forms backed up by tele-underwriting by a qualified nurse and suddenly the process for the adviser becomes a lot simpler.

The key point here is that although many of these products are excellent additions to the market, they are targeted at a very specific market. Therefore, are advisers who are looking to enter this arena clear on the potential risk of any reduced levels of cover on offer?

Where can technology help?

Technology can help guide advisers through this challenging and ever changing landscape, the challenge will be how to design a technology solution that is agile enough to adapt to these new product innovations. The problem with many new product innovations is that they may not always be common knowledge to advisers. This may largely be because they are not easily accessible via an advisers existing quote mechanism.

Portal services are designed to provide a comparison on price and can also provide quote capability on complex or non-standard products but the challenge facing advisers seems to be before they get to using a portal. We are witnessing more integration between research and quotation systems which should help overcome this problem. Some adviser back-office platforms are increasingly looking to provide a fully integrated technology solution which links the quote comparison neatly back to the more complex aspects of these products and permits initial filtering on like for like products before comparing price.

2010 could be key

Despite the valiant efforts of some key industry figures over the last few years to raise awareness amongst consumers of the importance of including income protection within their financial planning, there can be no doubt that there is still a long way to go for the income protection industry. However, the next twelve months will, I suspect, be a very interesting period of continued product innovation with software provider and portal developments stepping up a gear to meet the challenges and to help create additional adviser opportunities.

Charles Wood, Product Manager at Assureweb

What advisers need to know about Equity Release

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 12:21:49 GMT

Reasons to move into Equity Release

Advising on equity release for the first time is a daunting prospect for many advisers, but is potentially a worthwhile and growing area to consider diversifying into. The sector will invariably grow driven by changes to circumstances of the older generation, such as:

· Shortfalls in pension provision, caused by many contributing too late and not enough, below expected fund performance and falls in annuity rates, and reduction in state provision;

· Inflation and rising bills meaning it is very difficult for many to make ends meet;

· Desire to live well in retirement, with many wishing to make the most of the later years after a lifetime of work;

· Change in needs to leave an inheritance, with many members of the older generation having very financially stable offspring, or no dependants at all;

· Debt consolidation, with individuals heavily in debt at retirement age;

· Government support for the sector, with an acknowledgement that for many it will be essential boost to income and further research underway.

About Equity Release

The reputation of equity release suffered as a result of policies sold some decades ago but the industry body SHIP (Safe Home Income Plans) has done much to turn this round in recent years. SHIP has united product providers to produce safeguards to ensure that anyone with an equity release plan is protected; and they will never owe more than the value of their home to the equity release provider.

Equity release is a product that can greatly enhance the quality of life of the policyholders; and for policyholders that do not have any desire to leave an inheritance it is an excellent way to maximise the quality of their later years with the safeguard that they can live in their home until they die.

Equity release consists of Lifetime Mortgages and Home Reversion plans, which should not be confused with re-mortgaging to release equity from property. Equity release is only available to the over 55s, in general the policyholder does not make repayments (though there are Interest Only products), and is not expected to repay the loan before they die (although they can). Equity release should not be confused with the more controversial Sale and Rent Back schemes. Sale and Rent Back schemes are very different to equity release; the former is available to those below 55, and only guarantee that the individual(s) can rent their home for a limited period, unlike Equity Release. These are generally seen as a last resort option only, where Equity Release may be suitable for a variety of circumstances.

Finding clients

Lead generation is one of the main challenges to any adviser moving into equity release, particularly doing so in a cost effective way. Successful techniques include building up a referral network from other advisers (with the majority of advisers not wishing to advise themselves) or solicitors, targeted advertising to the older age group, for example in local publications, working with local clubs and similar organisations to get in touch with potential clients, and running seminars. Online promotion is an area of potential, which is set to grow, with an ever increasing number of over 55s using the Internet. This is not just for surfing in the traditional sense, but conducting transactions online and social networking. With some thought it is possible to target exactly the right groups that would be interested in equity release, and with the right web presence, ensure that leads are created.

Advising on products

It is important to understand the products that are on offer and the market properly. It is not a good idea to become qualified to sell equity release and then only advise on these products for a handful of clients each year. If you are considering moving into this market, then a reasonable degree of commitment will be required.

As an alternative to providing advice on equity release, , there are numerous equity release specialist firms that will take on the advice and compliance risk, offering a no cross-sell guarantee and paying attractive introducers fees. This is certainly worth considering if you only expect a small number of cases each year.

In order to give the best advice it is important to consider all the key providers, as different products are suitable for different needs and circumstances. A suitable quotation platform, such as Assureweb makes this task significantly easier; the client details will be entered and the system will return details of all the products that will lend and how much.

Rates on a lifetime mortgage are very important, arguably even more important than a conventional mortgage as the interest is compounded up for the remainder of the policyholder’s lifetime, and it is also important that the product allows future withdrawals if these are needed by the client. As the client pays interest as soon as they receive the funds it is likely to be better to set up a drawdown arrangement where the client takes money when they need it. Websites such as Assureweb enable a comparison of the growth in interest on these plans to assumed house price growth. Although all SHIP member providers support a no-negative equity guarantee it is important that the client understands how much the policy could cost.

How is the market changing?

In recent years the sector has looked very positive with several new entrants to the market developing innovative products. Unfortunately due to economic conditions some providers have withdrawn and rates have become slightly less attractive than they were. However, a growth spurt is still expected for equity release and it has remained more buoyant than most other product types in recent times.

The two largest political parties are both becoming more interested in equity release as way to solve the retirement funding crisis, and with this further support and growing need equity release is set to become a vital consideration in mainstream retirement planning.

Robert Bowes, Product Manager at Assureweb

Mixing friends, family with business is a danger. One adviser was fired by his dad, only to find himself replaced by his own son

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 17:22:16 GMT

Clyde Wyatt managed his father's money for about 18 months before he was abruptly dumped for another adviser: His own son Chris. One day my father was asking some questions about investment options for some maturing certificates of deposit while my son was with me,” recalled Mr. Wyatt, managing director of Navigation Financial Group, which manages $900 million in assets. “From that moment, I lost my father as my client and he has been working with my son since. My dad likes having his grandson as his adviser better. There's no friction.”

Mr. Wyatt's case shows that a family bond or close friendship doesn't always translate to a solid client relationship. Since family members and friends can often demand more from advisers than their regular clients — or overstep the bounds of the business relationship — practice management experts agree there are some simple rules to consider when deciding whether to take them on as clients.

First, advisers need to keep their personal relationships and business relationships separate and clearly explain the limits to clients.

Read the full article at InvestmentNews.com here.

Click this to post to Twitter

Making the right connection�.the secret to profitable client service

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 09:05:01 GMT

There’s been much talk about connectivity in the world of financial services technology over recent years. The focus has been very much on transactional connections…passing data between one system and another to achieve the utopia that is straight-through processing…. But is it really the utopia we are looking for? It may achieve business efficiencies or save time but it does not connect us with our client. This approach was about making our businesses lives easier but where was the client focus in all this?

Today’s advisory process is not about selling financial products, it’s about having conversations with clients, it’s about the advice, the relationship…and it’s a model that should be carried through to the technologies we use. True collaboration with clients is something that until very recently, technology has not delivered. And while our focus has been on connecting with our suppliers….meanwhile our clients have discovered a new world of connectivity. It’s called the social web and it’s changing the way clients do business with us.

Internet use amongst your clients is on the rise, and rapidly. Consumers are now used to online banking, price comparison sites, buying goods and services over the internet and more recently we have seen an explosion in the use of social networking sites. According to recent figures by Pingdom, Twitter is now averaging more than 1 billion posts per month. Facebook’s statistics reveal that it currently has more than 400 million active users worldwide. The social web has given consumers more power than ever before to interact with businesses and to better understand services and brands.

Today’s client takes a much more social approach to how they interact with businesses and they are much more likely to ask their peers for support and feedback on the services and products they buy. Clients are now happy to do some of the work themselves, take the growth of internet banking as an example, but in return they expect more value from your services and a better client experience. That means access to information 24 hours a day and a more personal, friendly relationship with your business.

In addition to the growth of the social web, regulatory pressures mean that advisory firms must build a business model that is absolutely focused on the client...something firms have been doing for a long time...but today this client focus needs to be measurable; it needs to be justified; it needs to be clearly defined. Remaining profitable whilst delivering independent financial advice and high quality services to all of your clients is a challenge. Use of social media has a huge part to play here, keeping the conversation going, but online collaboration can go much further than that. Online client servicing brings a new way to develop client relationships, complementing face-to-face reviews, telephone contact or written reports. At a time when consumers are seeking to have greater control of their finances and advisory firms are seeking ways to both articulate fees and adhere to RDR and TCF requirements, online client servicing delivers a new way to interact with clients.

The social web allows businesses to start focusing their technology around the client, embracing the new social technologies to form the connections that will ultimately drive their business forward. Power is transferring from the supplier to the client. This is the new approach to technology; letting the client drive our interactions with them. Service is no longer about managing our client, it’s no longer about the transactions we make; it''s about collaborating with clients. It''s about taking a more social approach to servicing and truly putting our clients at the heart of our business.

Tessa Lee is CEO of FinQS, a web technology provider to the financial services profession. To find out more about how innovative technology can support your business please call 01564 711153 or email info@finqs.co.uk.

How Financial Planners Can Use Words to Reach, Persuade and Connect (Part I of II)

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 07:09:26 GMT

This is a guest post from Richard Pelletier, Principal of Lucid Content in Portland, Oregon. In this post, Richard shares how advisors should communicate to their prospective clients through their websites.

A few weeks ago I attended a free evening marketing class led by three local business coaches. Each owns a coaching franchise and are part of a global coaching organization.

The information was confusing, the slides were dated and almost unreadable. The graphs and charts redefined ugly. The audience in the room looked remarkably similar to the slumping bodies I used to sit next to in my Art History survey classes, back in my college days. We were all bored silly.

Then, business coach “T”, announced, “We’re not advancing any new ideas here.”

That woke me up like a bucket of ice water over my head. None? Really?

I was struck by these two facts. No new ideas. And, a global organization unable to clearly and effectively communicate relevant, important, and yes, new, information to its audience. They weren’t connecting. Not a whiff of inspiration, either.

I’m a freelance copywriter and I work with a few financial planners. I am skittish around money matters myself and I’m fascinated by the challenge that financial planners have in persuading people to take care of business. All this led me to a thought experiment.

Take the same scenario described above, but replace the coaches with financial planners. They are facing a roomful of relatively well-off couples and individuals. A perfect audience - ready and willing to absorb and act on what they see and hear.

Sadly, much like our business coaches, our financial planners deliver a confusing, uninspiring, and forgettable presentation. Not one person signs up for anything, for the very obvious reason that their money and their futures are at stake.

As a Financial Planner, Your Website Is Your Presentation

As a financial planner, you are intimately involved with people’s money and money, as we know, is a loaded topic. Anyone who is serious and passionate about helping people with their finances, simply cannot afford to deliver a poor presentation.

So what to do? How do you improve your presentation? What should you say and how should you say it? I’ve put together a few thoughts, specifically about the words you use to reach and connect with customers.

Take a Customer-Focused Approach

The words you use on your site communicate to the visitor what your focus is. If your home page blasts a 72 point headline that says, “We’re the No. 1 Financial Planning Firm in the Entire Western U.S. then it is very clear where your focus is. It’s on yourself and your amazing Number One-ness.

In this instance, you are “marketing” to people which means you are not having a conversation with them. And all marketing is conversation. And not to put too fine a point on it, but who cares if you are No. 1? What does that have to do with me and my problems and concerns about money?

I can almost guarantee you this: The most important people in your life are not shouting, “I’m No. 1!”

The Gobbledygook Manifesto

A customer-focused approach goes a little deeper than a boastful headline of course. A customer-focused approach avoids what David Meerman Scott calls, “gobbledygook.” In the Gobbledygook Manifesto, Scott identifies meaningless phrases like “cutting-edge” “market leading” or my personal favorite, “solutions.” There are dozens of these words clogging up websites – finance related and otherwise - the world over.

Scott has said gobbledygook is a problem because these words have lost their meaning. He’s mostly right about that.

But I think it’s more than that. Gobbledygook is a problem because a) it leads with your language and your point of view instead of your customers language and point of view and b) it puts a wall between you and your visitor. Instead of bringing you closer to your customer, meaningless, empty phrases create distance. And distance does not build trust.

To illustrate, let’s say you and I meet at a dinner party. I ask you what you do for a living. You say, “Bay State Financial is a leading provider of wealth planning solutions for high net worth individuals.” That’s not much of a conversation starter is it?

But what if you said, “I do wealth planning. I help people like you make good decisions about your money so you can keep more of it and grow what you already have.”

That first voice is a deadly marketing voice. The second is a human voice and a human voice is the one that connects. It’s that voice, true and authentic, that signals a customer focused mindset. It is that voice you need to get onto your website.

Educate, Inform, and Be Absolutely Clear

Financial planning sites have the potential to veer off into highly technical language. There is peril and opportunity attached to this reality.

The peril comes by simply presenting – without explanation – words or terms that you understand and work with everyday, while assuming that everyone else knows what they are. Worse yet, in money matters, people are often embarrassed to admit what they don’t know.

The opportunity arises this way. If you present a glossary of financial terms, it helps by giving people an easy way to gain knowledge at their own pace in their own way.

However, the real opportunity here is to go beyond the basic glossary idea by avoiding “money speak” in order to have a real conversation around these definitions. Make that glossary customer centric and not something out the Financial Planners Glossary of Terms to Confuse the Uninitiated. Here’s an example of what I mean. These two examples define, in different ways, a 401(k) account.

Example 1.

“401(k) accounts: a plan that allows an employee to save for retirement by having a portion of his or her wages paid directly into a 401(k) account that is administered by the employer. These deposits are tax-deferred, meaning tax is not due on these earnings until they are withdrawn. The employee can select from an assortment of mutual funds and many companies also offer the option of purchasing company stock.”

Example 2.

“401(k) accounts: A 401(k) plan is one of the easiest ways for you to save more of your money for retirement. It works like this. Through your employer, you simply sign up for participation. This usually happens through your HR department. You can then decide how much you’d like to save. (There are limits to how much you can divert into your 401(k) and your HR department will have that information.)

Your account is administered by your employer, but they are not in control of the funds. You are. You will typically have some choices in how you invest this money – usually in the form of mutual funds or stock in the company where you work. In most cases, when you sign up for a 401(k) account you’ll receive a packet of information that will help you to understand how this all works. Be sure to read it over carefully.

It’s important to know a couple of things about a 401(k) account. The money that you divert into your 401(k) is not taxed. It’s tax deferred, meaning that it is only taxed when you withdraw it, at retirement. Again, read your packet of information.

It’s also important to know that a 401(k) is not a savings vehicle. It’s specifically for retirement. You can’t withdraw the money before retirement without paying a stiff penalty fee.”

I’ll admit, No. 2 is a lot longer than example No. 1, but which one do you think has a better chance of actually connecting with someone? Which sounds more like a real human being explaining the concept of the 401(k) to another human being?

It’s incredibly important to bring simple, straightforward clarity to your customers and prospects because it demonstrates that you have thought about and respect their need for information without always trying to sell them something.

In my next post, I’ll share some thoughts about “Cognitive Fluency.” I’ll talk about what it is, and why financial planners ought to know about it.

About Richard Pelletier

Richard Pelletier is the Principal of Lucid Content, a website copywriting firm. For more information visit www.lucidcontent.com.

About Kristen Luke

Kristen Luke is the Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, a firm dedicated to providing marketing strategies and support for financial advisors. Kristen works with independent advisors to develop effective marketing plans and provides the back office support required to implement the strategies. For more information, visit www.wealthmanagementmarketing.net.

For RIAs FINRA Social Media Rule Levels Playing Field

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:05:46 GMT

By John C. Drachman

Reprinted from Advisolocity

Confronted with the shock of the new, it''s only natural for large organizations to trust that yesterday''s strategies will continue to work a little longer.

Such is the case with the pace of adaptation for Bank of America Corp.''s Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney concerning FINRA 10-06, the generally enabling regulatory policy governing social networking.

: Smaller financial firms take lead in SMM.

According to a recent article in Financial Advisor Magazine, neither of these major firms allow "advisers to conduct business through social networking sites." The article quotes one spokeswoman, saying: "There are substantial restrictions on its use right now, but we are continuing to review the issue."

Meanwhile, for smaller, nimbler broker/dealers and RIAs the implication is clear: the free marketing bandwidth provided by FINRA''s common sense and clarifying guidance is theirs to use nearly exclusively. Because the social networking and media playing field is theirs, at least for the moment, enterprising marketers with few resources can be the first to adapt to the newest game in financial marketing.

Growing numbers of social media strategists and service providers are determined to help these Davids live like Goliaths -- if only for a day -- until the slow-moving giants make their moves.

Addressing FINRA 10-06''s archiving requirement, for example, SocialWare''s Compliance Guide to SMM points to a number of ways to meet data storage needs to reduce the risk of non-compliance.

: Steph Sammons intros advisors to SMM

Other firms are concentrating on how financial advisors can put FINRA 10-06 to work in their distribution strategies. Financial social media strategist Steph Sammons is showing her advisor clients how to take advantage of new media by setting up blogs and improving their presence on social networking sites.

"Attracting new clients has suddenly gotten easier," says D. Bruce Johnston of DBJ Associates. "Low-cost and creative, social media strategies are like free money to underfunded marketing departments."

SMM offers free bandwidth to enterprising small businesses.

For smaller firms looking to be the speedboats in the river while the lumbering barges make their glacial turns, Mr. Johnston points to a good SMM road map for advisors to start with: One-2-One: How to Have 1000 Conversations at Once.

Rubbish websites are hugely successful. But is your IFA practice 'well known' enough to get away with it?

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:38:45 GMT

The website of top author J. K. Rowling is "rubbish"; they are not my words, but those of Joanna Penn, the author and book marketing expert who said so in a recent podcast. In Joanna's view, the Harry Potter millionaire's website is not up to much. But, according to Joanna, that doesn't matter too much because J. K. Rowling is already well-known and established. The podcast also said that if you were as well known as someone like horror writer Stephen King, you too wouldn't need to worry about your website either.

The point being made by Joanna is a good one; websites do not have to be perfect if you already have a huge offline following and are already well-established. But, if your business is not that well-known, if you are trying to establish yourself, then your website needs to be pretty darn good to stand out amongst the competition. Is that right? Can you get away with a rubbish website if your business is so well-known?

Perhaps. Both J. K. Rowling and Stephen King enjoy roughly the same online success. They both appear at around the 100,000 level in the Alexa rankings and Compete.com shows that, apart from book or movie launches, the two authors run side-by-side in the internet stakes. In other words, the evidence suggests that they are both doing quite well online.

So what do their websites look like? Well, Joanna is right; J. K. Rowling's is poor. In fact so poor I can't access it. That's because when you go to the home page you have to choose your country by clicking on black and white flags which are all tinted green. So, picking out your preferred starting point is already difficult as flag recognition really only works in colour. But if you do manage to see your flag, you might not get any further because having then reached your second page you will almost certainly be presented with the message that the site requires you to switch off your pop-up blocker for it to work. I didn't venture any deeper into the site because I was already annoyed.

Stephen King's site, however, is well-made, clear and easy-to-use. But here's the problem for him. In spite of a well-made website, he doesn't really do any better than Harry Potter's inventor online. One rubbish website, one very good website - same results. In other words, the website itself is not related to the online effectiveness of these two authors. Something else is happening.

In Joanna Penn's Creative Penn podcast there was a clue; if your writing is not well-known you need a good website, she said. You can translate that into "if your business is not well-known you need a good website". Alternatively, you could say, "get well known first and then you don't have to have a good website".

In fact, the J. K. Rowling example is more evidence that even in the internet age, offline marketing is still much, much more important. Get yourself established offline and you can get away with being second-best online. Get an offline following and people will still flock to your website, forgiving your poor design or your technical inaccuracies, simply because they already like you. Penny Power's book "Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me" makes a similar point about social networking. In order to get people to connect with you online, they first need to know you and like you. It is the same for business websites, your customers and potential customers need to know about you first, then they need to like you and then they will engage with your internet offerings.

Online businesses owners are largely focused on search engine marketing. And when they are not worrying about that, they are concerned with either website design, or the new fashion for "widgets", or some other technological enhancement. And whilst these all have value, they pale into insignificance to simply "being known". The place you are most likely to start getting known is not the internet. The offline world is where you need to start.

Get an offline following and you too can have a rubbish website like Harry Potter's mum. But if you can't afford as much offline marketing as you need to get well-known, then you have no alternative but to have a brilliant online presence. In other words you have a choice; either spend your money on establishing your brand using good, old-fashioned, offline marketing and PR techniques - or put all your efforts into making your website much, much better than J. K. Rowling's. That would be a wizard move.

Graham Jones
Internet Psychologist

Click this to post to Twitter

Introduction to Financial Life Planning workshops. IFAs signing up here

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:55:36 GMT

After the huge popularity of our first workshop in London on 19th March, we are delighted to announce five further workshops.

AN INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL LIFE PLANNING - Cutting through the Hype

Kindly supported by Russell Investments

"I'm absolutely fascinated by the way every client I have seen lately is completely intrigued by and wants to experience Life Planning. Join us at our introductory workshops to discover how we explain Life Planning to our clients and how we've integrated it into our service proposition." Tina Weeks, Serenity Financial Planning.

19th March - London (sold out)
26th April 2010 - Manchester
28th April - London
29th April - Bristol
25th May - Glasgow
26th May - Belfast

IFA Life’s founder Philip Calvert has described Financial Life Planning as

“The most significant opportunity the financial planning industry has ever seen.”

IFAs are discovering that adding Life Planning to their service proposition is a powerful and proven* way to enhance both the value of their business and the value they add to clients.

And at a time when the financial services industry is under the spotlight, and with many advisers reviewing their business models, Life Planning brings a long-awaited breath of fresh air to the world of financial advice. It is much needed oxygen that’s giving life, energy, enthusiasm and optimism to a forward-thinking group of IFAs and financial planners; planners who are offering a service which is invigorating their careers and the lives of their clients.

So why all the excitement?
What is it about Financial Life Planning that has the potential to transform an IFA’s business?
And how do you communicate your Life Planning proposition to your clients?

Life Planning is the new buzz in the industry but with so much hype around it, it is rapidly become the ‘Marmite’ of the industry with people either loving or hating it.

The purpose of this workshop is to cut through the hype and show exactly what Life Planning is and even more importantly what it isn’t.

The workshop will reveal:

What Financial Life Planning IS - and what it is NOT
How and why Life Planning works in a post RDR world
The main Life Planning methodologies and how they differ
Life Planning myths and reality
Whether or not Life Planning can be self taught
Real examples of how IFAs have introduced Life Planning to UK clients
Examples of Life Planning exercises that you can use with your clients
Why Life Planning skills are essential for every financial planner in the changing financial landscape
How Life Planning helps you to differentiate your practice
How to incorporate Life Planning into an existing practice
How to charge for Life Planning
Integrating cashflow modelling with Life Planning
Whether you should offer Life Planning as a stand-alone service or as part of an existing service proposition

Plus:

Key marketing techniques to communicate your Life Planning proposition, including how to use seminars and workshops, press and PR and how to communicate your message to professional connections
Proven ways to attract more prospects to your website
How and why you should use Social Media and networking websites to support your Life Planning proposition

Your speakers

Tina Weeks is a graduate of the Kinder Institute Seven Stages of Money Maturity workshop and the five day EVOKE® advanced Life Planning training. Tina is the UK representative for the Kinder Institute and now assists George Kinder in the delivery of his trainings and is on course to be the first female Kinder Registered Life Planner in the UK.

Tina has also studied the work of Bill Bachrach and Dr Maria Nemeth, a clinical psychologist and internationally known speaker, author and coach who has helped thousands of individuals to achieve financial ease.

Tina has successfully integrated Financial Life Planning into her own business Serenity Financial Planning, and will share her experiences, mistakes and successes.

Tina comments:

“Financial life planning is rapidly catching the imagination of IFAs everywhere, with many realising that it can build value in their business and add significant value to clients.”

“But many IFAs are unsure as to what to do next, how to introduce it into their services and how to market and promote it. Our workshops will enable many IFAs to understand the benefits of providing a life planning service and how to get the message out there.”

Philip Calvert is the founder of IFA Life, and passionately believes that Financial Life Planning is the key to making many financial advice firms more attractive, more appealing and more relevant to today’s consumers and investors.

Philip is a graduate of the Kinder Institute Seven Stages of Money Maturity workshop, and has presented on marketing Financial Life Planning at the EVOKE® advanced Life Planning training. He is also the author of a special marketing guide for financial planners – How to Market and Promote Financial Life Planning in your IFA Business.

Philip has over thirty years experience working with IFAs through Providers and as an independent marketing coach. Thousands of IFAs have attended his Seminar Selling and Internet marketing training workshops.

Your investment

£147 plus VAT which includes the workshop, materials, teas, coffees, lunch and refreshments - plus for those booking immediately a free copy of Philip Calvert's PDF eGuide Marketing for Financial Planners - How to Market and Promote Financial Life Planning in your IFA Business.

You may pay securely and safely by credit or debit card or by PayPal using the link below. To pay by direct bank transfer or by cheque please send an email to events@ifalife.com for details.

Venue details to be confirmed

19th March - London (sold out)

26th April 2010 - Manchester

28th April - London

29th April - Bristol

25th May - Glasgow

26th May - Belfast

Timing

10.00am for 10.30am prompt start. Workshop closes at 4pm approx.

Don't miss out - the first London workshop sold out in record time!

* According to the Kinder Institute of Life Planning, there are many proven benefits of introducing Life Planning to your proposition, including:

A process which creates a deep, insightful and long-lasting relationship between client and adviser
A more efficient way to do financial planning
A far greater understanding of clients’ goals and aspirations
Clients who really buy into the process, plus far greater trust
Clients who stay for life
Immediate, high quality referrals
Higher conversion rates
A learnable and trainable methodology
3-5 times the sale value of commission-based firms
The potential for much cheaper PI cover
Excited, energised, motivated clients, advisers and staff

Not only that, but Life Planners report:

Significantly reduced workload
Increased income (Life Planners are in the top 2% of earners in the profession)
Greater profitability per client
More time for their family, hobbies, thinking and focus
More time to develop new income streams from their expertise

Click this to post to Twitter

Notes from the T3 Conference

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:37:16 GMT

This past week I attended the 2010 "T3" Technology Tools for Today Conference in San Diego. Since it was my first time in attendance, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had decided to attend the conference since it was being held 20 minutes from my home and I wanted to meet many of the advisors and service providers that I had been conversing with on Twitter over the past few months.

The conference provided wonderful educational sessions, great opportunities for networking and plenty of time to speak with vendors in the exhibit hall. Though my expertise is not necessarily technology, I thought I’d share with you a few common themes I saw throughout the conference from my own marketing perspective.

A CRM is a Must!

A number of presentations focused on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. The consensus is that a CRM is not a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have for any business, yet many advisors still don’t have a CRM in place (and by the way Microsoft Outlook is not a CRM). From my personal marketing perspective, I agree that having a CRM is critical. It can help you streamline your client communication, segment contacts for specific campaigns and track results from your marketing efforts. The main CRM vendors that I heard mentioned throughout the conference were Redtail, Junxure, Smarsh, ProTracker and AppCrown (SalesForce).

You Can’t Ignore Social Media

There were two presentations about social media during the conference. The first was presented by Hadley Stern from Fidelity where he discussed how they are using social media to communicate with their customers. My favorite point from him was that Fidelity doesn’t ignore customer emails, so they had no reason to ignore customer comments on Twitter and Facebook.

The second presentation was a panel discussion which included Marie Swift, Rick Kahler, CFP® and Deborah Fox. The panelists all agreed that an effective social media strategy starts with a good website at the core. In contrast, the panelist each had different thoughts about blogging. Some felt that blogging required a minimum commitment of two posts per week, while others felt once a week was sufficient. There were also split feelings about whether using a copy writer to ghost write a blog is acceptable. My favorite point from this presentation was that there is NO right or wrong strategy for social media, it is just important that there is a clear strategy. I couldn’t agree more with this final point.

Technology Fails Because it is Under Utilized

Throughout the presentations, there were comments about why technology systems generally fail. Several reasons were mentioned over the course of the conference. One reason is that there is no buy-in from both the owners of the firm and the operation staff. Both groups of people need to be on board and utilize the technology in order for the staff to fully adopt the systems as well. Another reason is that there is a lack of dedication. If the staff is not sufficiently trained and fully utilizing the systems, the systems are destined to fail. Finally, it was stated that technology fails because firms are not clear about what they want to get out of the systems and probably, put nice-to-have above need-to-have features.

Find Out More

The conference covered much more than what I have discussed here including the future of cloud computing and smart phones. If you want to see more highlights from the conference, visit the Technology Tools for Today™ Annual Conference blog at http://t3conference.blogspot.com/ or read what people are tweeting using the hashtag #t3show.

Not now, I'm still working. Ask me later.

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:56:36 GMT

A number of years ago - I’m going to be deliberately vague and change details to prevent anyone from being identified – I attended a session of Workaholics Anonymous in London, with the intention of observing proceedings, and then mocking the idea of a counselling group for compulsive workers.

The very concept of Workaholics Anonymous, which was originally set up in 1983 in New York by a financial planner and a schoolteacher, seemed intrinsically comic to me. How would workaholics ever find time to attend meetings? And, once they joined, would they overprepare, and compete to make lengthy Powerpoint presentations? It was the kind of hilarious piece that was going to write itself.

But the piece never did write itself. And it has taken me some long time finally to get around to it. You see, there turned out to be nothing particularly hilarious about the meeting. I listened to one man explain how he spent so much time developing his business, to the exclusion of everything else, including exercise, that he had a heart attack. A woman blamed her divorce on trying to make it as a management consultant. Meanwhile, a young City professional said that overwork was making him suicidal.

Also, I had, at the time, just started dating a workaholic, and the experience was beginning to alter my views. Before this, I didn’t really consider workahol a drug, not least because my immigrant family had instilled into me the importance of hard toil. My grandfather worked in a factory for eight years after his official retirement. At the age of ten, during school holidays, I was labouring up to 14 hours a day in a local sewing factory. And I worked so frantically at university that I ended up in hospital after my finals. Besides, if you enjoy your work, what’s the problem?

Indeed, this girl’s workaholism – say she was Indian, in her thirties and a City lawyer – combined with her looks, intelligence and kindness was part of the attraction. At the time I was working especially hard, and a relationship where I saw the other person only at weekends seemed ideal.

But things began to unravel when it transpired that our notions of hard work differed drastically. In comparison to her, I was Bez from the Happy Mondays. She worked between 8am and 11pm most days, almost never took weekends off and hadn’t had a holiday in years. Then, after a while, the little time we did spend together began to be invaded by her work. An invitation to the theatre turned out to be a corporate outing. A dinner party with a friend turned out to be a dinner party with a business contact. A Sunday afternoon movie was postponed to “dinner”, which was postponed to a “late takeaway”.

Having railed in the past about various partners’ “neediness”, it was peculiar being on the other side of the fence. And when I began complaining about late night BlackBerry messaging, early morning client calls and of being ignored until 11pm, when my messages finally got a response, I began receiving sporadic daytime texts saying things like, “I’m thinking of you”. But it’s not enough to be thought about is it? I mean, I think of Sienna Miller quite often, but it doesn’t mean we have a relationship.

The break-up was difficult because I still adored her in most ways, and, besides, look at the state of me. Some of us can’t afford to be so demanding. When I suggested ending it, I did so in the hope it would shock her into making concessions. But while claiming to be devastated, no concessions materialised. And as we parted I saw a flicker of something in her eyes that resembled relief. I know the feeling: you’re sad that yet another relationship has failed, that you’re another step closer to spending your life alone, but surreptitiously relieved because it means you can finally concentrate on your beloved work.

Before someone writes in to point out that she may just have thought I was a moron, I should state at this point that, yes, she may just have thought I was a moron. It is always easier to blame someone else for a relationship failure, than to examine your own faults, of which I evidently have many. But this was my possibly self-deluded interpretation of events, and in retrospect I’m glad it happened because it finally made me appreciate that overwork is not harmless.

Culturally, we Britons tend to honour long hours. But like alcoholism, workaholism does damage lives. It makes people neglect families, relationships and health, and workaholics are often in a state of denial about the impact of their behaviour. I didn’t realise it when I was doing it, but every time you let work invade a slot of time you have arranged to spend with someone, take a call during dinner, or check e-mail during a weekend break, you highlight how little they matter to you. I have since tried to change my approach to work – I try to take weekends off, see my family more often, and I soon hope to take my first two-week holiday in years.

Having said that, I do think WA, which aims to offer a 12-step recovery programme along the lines of AA, takes the parallel to alcoholism too far. Unlike compulsive boozers, I don’t think compulsive workers are destined to crash. You can be a high-functioning workaholic much more easily than a high-functioning alcoholic.

It needn’t destroy you. I just think it means you don’t live as rich a life as you could do. So while I’m pretty sure my ex will be prime minister one day – she’ll be brilliant – I know now that I have no interest in becoming the Punjabi answer to Denis Thatcher.

www.iuvomarketing.com

blogging@iuvomarketing.com

HMRC mislead employers on tax credits

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:55:02 GMT

HMRC are tasked with increasing the take-up of tax credits. While many do take them up, HMRC use such misleading marketing messages that they also put off a large number who might qualify. That number includes some of the more vulnerable customers of HMRC.

HMRC repeatedly simplify their marketing of tax credits to such an extent as to seriously mislead the casual reader. Take, for example, the occasion last October when HMRC launched their campaign to reach workers without children, upon which we commented.

In their latest campaign which is targeted at employers, HMRC have once again so simplified the messages as to create a false impression.

Left out again

The Tax Credit regime cannot be explained with a few simple income figures. It is highly complex because it aims to be flexible and reactive to individual circumstances.

So when marketing people fix upon simple messages in order to capture the audience, essential details are left out, and classes of people who are entitled - and should be encouraged to claim - do not receive a mention.

The latest unfortunate campaign, in a long series, is the attempt to sell Working Tax Credit to employers for onward promotion to their employees. This is included in HMRC's February Employer Bulletin and is commendable in concept, but not in the detail. The bold text that follows represents quotes from the Bulletin with our commentary below:

1. Your employees could claim [Working Tax Credit] if they:

Are aged 25 or over
Work 30 hours or more a week
Earn up to £13,190 a year (or £17,956 as a couple)

Quoting such precise figures is highly misleading and will persuade many people that they are not entitled to claim.

First, tax credits entitlement is normally based on income for the previous tax year. So you could be earning well above those figures now and still be entitled to working tax credit in the current tax year because your income for last year was below £13,190 or £17,956.
Secondly, if you are a single employee with a disability, the comparatively generous extra support you are entitled to through tax credits could push your income levels close to £20,000 a year (up to £22,500 if you are severely disabled) before your entitlement ceases. The income level for a couple where one or both partners are disabled can be even higher.

2. To give you an example of what they could be claiming - a single person earning £10,000 in 2009/10 could be entitled to £1,270 per year.....

This example merely reinforces the misinformation. If the single person was earning £10,000 as a trainee in 2008/09, but has now received promotion and is earning £18,000 in 2009/10, they are still entitled to receive £1,270 a year.

Also, even if this single person did earn £10,000 in 2009/10, if they were paid less in 2008/09 they might in fact be entitled to more than £1,270 Working Tax Credit now.

Another incentive to claim for the first time is the three-month backdating allowed, so that you get tax credits for up to three months before you claim, so long as you met the criteria during that time. This is another benefit that HMRC could promote, but do not.

3. .......those over 50 returning to work after a period of being on benefits, may also be entitled...

It is actually those over 49 (or to put it another way, using the same annotation as elsewhere in the article, those aged 50 or over) who are entitled under these provisions.

Let this be the last time

We have raised these issues for the last three years and each time HMRC pat us on the head and say that we do not understand marketing. That may be so, but we see too many people who do not claim tax credits when they are entitled to do so. If HMRC are going to be simplistic in their marketing then we want them to invite as many people as possible to test whether they are entitled or not. Even if they do not qualify, they may have learned something in the process.

We understand that employers are going to be invited to acquire posters to put up for their employees. If those posters might mislead their employees, they might like to think again.

Contact Name: John Andrews (0844 579 6700 Fax 0844 579 6701)

Click this to post to Twitter

An Introduction to Financial Life Planning now Sold Out, but...

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:39:01 GMT

As further evidence that Financial Life Planning is attracting the attention of IFAs everywhere, our Introduction to Financial Life Planning workshop has sold out within just a few days of being announced. Our apologies to those who we could not fit in to the first workshop on the 19th March.

Provisional dates for future workshops are:

26th April 2010 - Manchester
28th April - London
29th April - Bristol
25th May - Scotland (Glasgow or Edinburgh tbc)
26th May - Belfast

If you are interested in attending any of these dates please send an email to events@ifalife.com

Phil

AN INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL LIFE PLANNING

Cutting through the Hype

Friday 19th March 2010

Kindly supported by Dimensional Fund Advisors

IFA Life’s founder Philip Calvert has described Financial Life Planning as

“The most significant opportunity the financial planning industry has ever seen.”

IFAs are discovering that adding Life Planning to their service proposition is a powerful and proven* way to enhance both the value of their business and the value they add to clients.

So why all the excitement?
What is it about Financial Life Planning that has the potential to transform an IFA’s business?
And how do you communicate your Life Planning proposition to your clients?

Life Planning is the new buzz in the industry but with so much hype around it, it is rapidly become the ‘Marmite’ of the industry with people either loving or hating it.

The purpose of this workshop is to cut through the hype and show exactly what Life Planning is and even more importantly what it isn’t.

The workshop will reveal:

The main Life Planning methodologies and how they differ
Life Planning myths and reality
Whether or not Life Planning can be self taught
Examples of Life Planning exercises that you can use with your clients
Why Life Planning skills are essential for every financial planner in the ever changing financial landscape
Why Life Planning helps you differentiate your firm and give you an advantage
How to incorporate Life Planning into an existing practice
How to charge for Life Planning
Whether you should offer Life Planning as a stand-alone service or as part of an existing service proposition

Plus:

Key marketing techniques to communicate your Life Planning proposition, including how to use seminars and workshops, press and PR and how to communicate your message to professional connections
Proven ways to attract more prospects to your website
How and why you should use Social Media and networking websites to support your Life Planning proposition

Your speakers

Tina has successfully integrated Financial Life Planning into her own business Serenity Financial Planning, and will share her experiences, mistakes and successes.

Venue

Dimensional Fund Advisors
7 Down Street
Green Park
London W1J 7AJ

Timing

10.00am for 10.30am prompt start. Workshop closes at 4pm approx.

Your investment

£97 plus VAT which includes the workshop, teas, coffees, lunch and refreshments - plus a copy of Philip Calvert's PDF eGuide Marketing for Financial Planners - How to Market and Promote Financial Life Planning in your IFA Business.

You may pay securely and safely by credit or debit card or by PayPal using the link below. To pay by direct bank transfer or by cheque please send an email to events@ifalife.com for details.

Don't miss out - this workshop is limited to just 15 places.

* According to the Kinder Institute of Life Planning, there are many proven benefits of introducing Life Planning to your proposition, including:

A process which creates a deep, insightful and long-lasting relationship between client and adviser
A more efficient way to do financial planning
A far greater understanding of clients’ goals and aspirations
Clients who really buy into the process, plus far greater trust
Clients who stay for life
Immediate, high quality referrals
Higher conversion rates
A learnable and trainable methodology
3-5 times the sale value of commission-based firms
The potential for much cheaper PI cover
Excited, energised, motivated clients, advisers and staff

Not only that, but Life Planners report:

Significantly reduced workload
Increased income (Life Planners are in the top 2% of earners in the profession)
Greater profitability per client
More time for their family, hobbies, thinking and focus
More time to develop new income streams from their expertise

Click this to post to Twitter

Recent Articles From IFA Life

The mass marketing of financial planning

CFP Board hikes requirement for certification exam

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Cognitive Fluency and the Financial Planner

Good luck!

Bigmouthmedia unveils British financial sector's top social networking executives

Begin with yourself, get kids moneywise

Failing to deliver the goods...?

How do you describe Financial Planning - Is it irresistible?

Think social, not company. IFAs cannot afford to ignore these findings

For Sale: A one year old rally, no careful owners.

Income Protection � Is too much choice a good thing?

What advisers need to know about Equity Release

Mixing friends, family with business is a danger. One adviser was fired by his dad, only to find himself replaced by his own son

Making the right connection�.the secret to profitable client service

How Financial Planners Can Use Words to Reach, Persuade and Connect (Part I of II)

For RIAs FINRA Social Media Rule Levels Playing Field

Rubbish websites are hugely successful. But is your IFA practice 'well known' enough to get away with it?

Introduction to Financial Life Planning workshops. IFAs signing up here

Notes from the T3 Conference

Not now, I'm still working. Ask me later.

HMRC mislead employers on tax credits

An Introduction to Financial Life Planning now Sold Out, but...