Treading water: opportunities for advisers post-Referendum

"I believe that in such times the public, namely your clients, look to experts more than ever in order to get their professional support and advice"

Even if these events are known and foreseen, such as the implementation of MMR or the MCD, or even if they’re not such as the Vote to Leave the EU, their impact can be seismic and can be potentially damaging effect to our businesses.

And so we come, as unfortunately we must, to this post-EU referendum environment that we find ourselves in. At the moment, we can’t even say this is ‘Brexit Britain’ because until we have a new Prime Minister we know that Article 50 won’t be invoked and therefore our ‘Brexit’ negotiations would actually begin. Indeed, our new PM May won’t necessarily invoke Article 50 immediately anyway. There are still some commentators I see who think we might never actually get to this point, however I’m not sure what this will do to the notion of British democracy if we don’t follow the will of the majority of the people.

So, even with the coronation of Theresa May, we are still treading water at the moment, caught between a decision and a negotiation without quite knowing what happens in the short-term, and certainly not knowing what will happen in the medium to long-term. To say it’s not ideal would be something of an understatement, and it leaves advisers and their clients in a rather tricky position.

When you don’t know what’s coming over the horizon it can seem a leap in the dark to make a significant financial decision – whether that be purchasing a first home, moving home, remortgaging, etc. Add in any uncertainty about job prospects, wage levels, house prices, stock market movements, currency changes, rates of inflation, Bank Base Rate levels, standards of living, the list goes on, and you might well be dealing with clients who quite frankly, don’t know whether they’re coming or going.

It’s a very tricky time for advisers however the important point to grasp in all this is that, unlike Michael Gove, I don’t believe the public have had enough of experts. In fact we might argue that it has been those experts in Threadneedle Street, the Bank of England and its Governor, who have actually been the ones with a plan, who have shared their views and done most to calm and reassure both our financial institutions and the Great British public. Perhaps Mr. Gove would still like us to ignore them?

In fact, and let’s disregard Gove’s facile comments, I believe that in such times the public, namely your clients, look to experts more than ever in order to get their professional support and advice, and to help them make those big decisions in potentially uncertain times.

We’ve seen over the past few years how intermediaries/advisers have become even more in demand for a number of reasons, one of those being the increased complexity of the mortgage/financial services marketplace and the fact they need experts who can help them work out what they should be doing. Add into this all manner of Brexit-related complexities, and the unknowability of what might come next, and I might suggest you’ll be pushing at an open door when it comes to communicating with clients about the products and services you offer.

The important thing to remember however in such a work environment is that this can’t just be about the mortgage. In the first quarter of this year, the market saw mortgage enquiries rise and protection business fall – now if it was happening in protection I suspect it will be the same case for conveyancing, GI, and all other manner of cross-sale opportunities. This market, and the potential negative impact we could see in transaction numbers, must mean you adopt a fully diversified proposition catering for all clients’ needs. Clearly, I’m going to push the conveyancing message because for just a small amount of work, it can deliver not just client satisfaction but also income which if you take this approach for all clients could build up to a healthy amount each year.

Yes, there are plenty of uncertainties at the moment; yes you’ll find clients who may be apprehensive about what they could and should be doing, but to my mind this represents a real opportunity rather than sitting back and hoping good business fortune falls into your lap.