Financial advice has evolved over the years but a shift to more holistic advice has been one of the key changes, according to Rory Cunningham, advising partner at Sandringham Financial Partners.
Speaking to FT Adviser as part of our Coffee Corner series, Cunningham said the biggest change he has noticed so far in his short career as an adviser has been a move to more holistic and goals based financial planning.
So what has been your journey and how has that developed?
“I started out my professional career as an accountant with BDO in Leeds as an audit trainee.
“It was a great company to work for but I quickly realised that maybe it wasn't the right career path for me so I was introduced to a couple of financial advisers in the industry to chat with them.”
Cunningham said the advisers gave him the confidence to sidestep into financial planning about five and a half years ago and he has not looked back since.
He then went on to be a client service associate at Ascot Lloyd in Leeds to run administration in a paraplanning type role.
“I cut my teeth there a little bit and then moved to a firm in Harrogate, where there was a bit more freedom to get involved with the meetings under the financial adviser,” he said.
Cunningham did his studying, alongside day to day work, and became qualified in about two years.
“In my relatively short career so far, I think the biggest change has been a move to more holistic and goals based financial planning,” he said.
“I don't know any different but I definitely think a lot more firms are catching up with this now and it's become more at the forefront, especially with consumer duty and fair value.”
Are there any areas you would have liked more help on when you first started out?
“The exams are really good at teaching the theory and the technical things, but perhaps not very good at teaching the soft skills and the people skills,” he said.
“We're in a relationship game at the end of the day and it's really important to get that right from the outset.”
Cunningham explained that more resources and training on that area from the exam bodies or employers would be really good for people starting their careers.
He said it would be beneficial to have this alongside the exams.
In terms of your firm, as a new business owner, what challenges have you found?
Cunningham said there is lots to contend with such as regulation and cashflow, but the biggest challenge is getting through to clients and in a way they can understand.
“The world is a different place now, everyone's got shorter attention spans thanks to social media,” he said.
“You've got less time to capture someone's attention and make an impact on them, so one of the biggest challenges is getting in front of the right people and talking to them in the right way.”
Cunningham said there are some great advisers that are doing great things in this space - especially over in the states.
He explained that people at the start of that journey need to embrace that a little bit more and try to think outside the box.
