Advisers are you growing with the flow?
Myra Rego, FAnews Journalist
Gaining credibility places many higher demands and sets a benchmark and a goal for others to aspire to.
Everyone is looking for that silver bullet to be successful, said Dan Hugo, Head of Distribution at PSG. “But going forward, flow is the new word for us, because we recognise that it is what we need to grow. Our existing client base remains a priority, but we understand that it is important to gain new flows, new funds, new premiums and new clients,” he said at the recent PSG conference, held at Sun City.
“Assisting advisers to navigate themselves through the sea of technicalities and regulations is part of the value proposition that PSG offers,” he continued.
Determining factors
Nationally, PSG has 659 advisers in 193 offices. Hugo mentioned that some interviews with successful advisers (who had grown their practices significantly) were conducted across the firm, to share some learnings with attendees at the conference to encourage them to apply these practices to their offices.
Spread across all disciplines, 28 advisers, both new and seasoned, in 20 offices were interviewed. The age group ranged from fairly young, to the more advanced adviser. The idea was to gain an understanding of how advisers run practices, what makes these advisers successful, what challenges they have, how they treat their clients, how they grow, how and who can make growth happen, what they have learned and what the strategy is to constantly keep on growing.
The common theme around the challenges these advisers face is that of regulation. Added to this is economic growth, inflation, equity markets, the battle for distribution and competitors.
Hugo indicated that the interviewees made a meaningful contribution to the bottom line and challenged the rest by asking the question, “If they can do it, why can’t I?” He said that some advisers, when asked what really makes a practice successful, responded with encouraging words that many should aspire to live by.
One respondent said that doing the right thing for 15 years made him an overnight success. While a fellow adviser from Bloemfontein encourages others to do all the small things, but to do them right all the time. Two respondents agree that effective commitment is the key to success.
Success strategies
Looking at success strategies, Hugo said, “advisers should be ‘client centric’ by putting clients first and not leave any window of opportunity open for competitors. They should embrace change and be early adopters of change by utilising resources and enhancing their expertise. They should also spend more time with clients because existing clients are the ones who bring in new clients.”
He added that successful advisers are spending 60% of their time with clients. Of that 60%, 85% is spent on dealing with existing clients and 15% with new clients (90% of the 15% comes from referrals from existing clients, so spend time with the old, to bring in the new). Successful advisers maximise their time with clients and have effective administrative systems and processes.
The key strategy is to simplify the systems used, the processes and the people. “Hire the right people and utilise Human Resources. Remunerate and incentivise them well. Utilise compliance and technological tools. Combine forces with other practices to grow quicker than the market. Ensure that you remain compliant, with your own processes right through to regulation. Segment your client base and avoid complexities. Limit the number of product providers you utilise. Ensure that staff are on par with growing the practice. On a regular basis, succession planning should be discussed. The value proposition is here to help you grow,” continued Hugo.
The point that Hugo makes is that everything is changing and if intermediaries are not growing with the flow, they will not be relevant anymore.
Winning accolades
Out of 659 advisers in 193 offices, PSG named prize-winners in several categories at a Gala Dinner held at the firm’s annual conference and awards ceremony.
Hugo said that these awards were based on a number of criteria. The first criterion was quality and professionalism, in terms of client interaction, the level of education and skills of staff, practice management and compliance. The second criterion was the way the PSG strategy was embraced in terms of being a strong brand ambassador and supporting the key initiatives of the firm. And lastly, the profitability of the practice was considered, in terms of both the growth in revenue, and in assets under administration and/or management.
The prize-winners were:
• Best supportive Professional Firm of the year: Grant Clinton and Associates
• Newcomer of the year: Schalk Louw (PSG Wealth: Old Oak)
• Best increase in production: Schalk Roelofse (PSG Wealth: Nelspruit)
• Best Healthcare practice: Ann Havinga, Sylvester Appasamy & Tinus Havinga (PSG
Wealth Midlands: Healthcare)
• Employee Benefits practice of the year: Neels & Nerine Brink (PSG Wealth: Route 21)
• Short-term practice of the year: Riana Wiese (PSG Insure: Meesterplan)
• Stockbroker of the year: Brian van Rensburg (PSG Namibia)
• Financial planner of the year: Riaan Strydom (PSG Wealth: Port Elizabeth)
• Portfolio Manager of the year: Johan Borcherds (PSG Wealth: Pretoria East)
• Office of the year: PSG Wealth Pretoria East
In this competitive industry, to receive awards and to be recognised for excellence is no doubt a game changer for those who want to be categorised as top industry players. Hugo said that as PSG is the largest independent intermediary financial services provider in South Africa, these were significant achievements.
Editor’s Thoughts:
FAnews would like to congratulate the prize-winners on their achievements. In order to grow flows, the most important aspect is to look at business practices and models and identify how to change methods to aspire to achieve the same growth as successful practices. Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me your thoughts [email protected].
