Fitting then that Chris Davies, author of the book “Winning Client Trust: The Retail Distribution Review and the UK Financial Services Industry’s Battle for Its Clients’ Hearts and Minds” talked about how he came to write it, and what he discovered during his research for the book.

Chris opened with the following quote from Winston Churchill “Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with,it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public”. All true, he says.

When talking about “Winning Client Trust” Chris was positive about the level of trust between Financial Planners and their clients. “You are” he said “ahead of the game, and better placed than most” as he compared Financial Planners to other providers of financial advice.

For many in the audience, working with clients in an honest transparent way is second nature and intuitive, so it was helpful to see how the advice process has evolved over time.

With one year to the implementation of the RDR, Chris’s talk sets the stage for the 2012 programme of talks.