Adviser Workshop: How to keep your advisers and incentivise them

Paul Beasley (pictured), Martin Bamford and Arthur Childs explain their methods for retaining and incentivising their advisers.

Paul Beasley

Managing director, Richmond House Group

It is not all about money, it is also about working environment and professional recognition.

All our advisers are employed on good salaries. This gives weight to the company’s ethos that we are advisers, not salespeople. We offer a generous package including pension scheme, life cover, permanent health insurance, accident cover and a car allowance.

We then offer a bonus structure that is flexible to reflect each adviser’s strengths. We give credit for repeat fees, ensuring advisers give a professional service, ie, annual reviews. This is structured to allow them to choose whether they predominantly wish to service or look for new business. For example, someone handling £300,000 of repeat fees will earn less of a bonus than someone handling £100,000 of new business as well as £200,000 of repeat fees.

Each adviser has a business assistant with sufficient skills to deal with appointment-making, client queries and technical and sales support. This frees up the adviser to maximise their time with clients. They receive a great deal of personal support from the directors. We get involved in their larger accounts and in tandem with the business assistant to strengthen the relationship with Richmond.

A good support network

The all-round support, professionalism and ambition of the company enthuses our advisers. They are passionate about their own professionalism and recognise that in these uncertain times of the retail distribution review, they are in the perfect environment to achieve their goal of being recognised as quality advisers. They are at one with our goals and are able to contribute to our strategy. We have a very open and inclusive management style.

In short, we expect the highest of professional standards and deliver in return the highest of professional respect.

Martin Bamford

Managing director, Informed Choice

Incentivising and retaining advisers has to be about more than simply money. There will always be another IFA firm happy to charge less and compete on price, so we choose to compete on value.