03/03/2010 - Research shows that members of support services are ahead on the RDR

In a survey of over 1000 active financial advisers undertaken last year by strategy & research consultancy NMG, advisers using support services, were found to be more advanced in several areas of the RDR, when compared to all advisers in the survey.
 
More advisers attached to support services (31%) were already operating an adviser charging model compared to all advisers (26%).  Also 42% of advisers with support services were already holding a Level 4 qualification compared to 36% of all advisers.  The same research also showed that more advisers (33%) of support service providers thought the RDR would have a ‘very positive’ or ’positive’ impact on their business, compared to all advisers (28%).
 
The research also showed that SimplyBiz, the Huddersfield based compliance and business support company, scored higher than other support services on member satisfaction with almost twice as many of their members  ‘very satisfied’ with the services of SimplyBiz compared to other support services organisations.  In addition, 87% of SimplyBiz members were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ compared to only 66% in other support services organisations.
 
Matthew Timmins, Marketing Director, SimplyBiz commented:
 
“We have always believed the support services model, as opposed to the network model, is the optimum way to deliver support to financial advisers.  SimplyBiz in particular has been a significant player in increasing the differentiation between service providers and networks by offering comprehensive support at outstanding value and I am delighted that we are very highly rated by our members. Our level of innovation over the last 12 months alone is helping to save our members thousands of pounds a year in many cases.  We have literally spent millions of pounds giving additional value to our members on initiatives such as exam fee refunds, IntelliFlo back office system, bookkeeping software developed specifically for IFAs, free Defaqto Engage licence and investment fund research, and PLUS, our personalised service for larger practices.
 
That level of innovation and support will continue in 2010 and we look forward to delighting our members even further.”