Chris Jordan CFP^CM of Heron House Financial Management is proud to be a part of a growing IFP Accredited Financial Planning Firm^TM. Here he shares some ideas on best practice and business growth.

Financial Planner: Congratulations on becoming one of the latest Accredited Financial Planning Firms, why did you decide to apply and how do you feel having achieved it?

Chris Jordan: The short reply is that Sue Whitbread (IFP communications director) sat on me at the New Model Adviser Conference and made me finally get off my backside and apply. It is great to achieve accredited status and we feel it is an essential part of differentiating ourselves, post RDR.

FP: How did you find the application process and what would you say to other firms considering applying?

CJ: The application process was relatively straightforward for us as we have been a Financial Planning firm since inception. It did mean we reviewed our procedures and documentation and I must admit we needed to finetune a couple of points. Do not be afraid of the process, it should provide a significant benefit to your business over time.

FP: What do you hope the firm will gain from having the accreditation and how do you intend to maximise the potential?

CJ: Our hope is that it will become recognised as a leading standard in our profession by consumers, the regulator and other professions. We intend to integrate it into our existing marketing material and increase awareness among our professional connections.

FP: Having worked as a Financial Planner for many years, how did you enter the profession and how has it changed over that time?

CJ: It is my silver anniversary this year as an IFA, my first day on the job was Black Monday, 19th October 1987. Before you ask, it wasn’t my fault, I didn’t touch any buttons! I answered a small advertisement in a local paper which was headed Financial Management and thought my background in economics would be useful. The advert was placed by Julie Lord, who was my team leader and first significant influence in my career. Sitting at the corner desk of the office on that first day was Sue Whitbread and less than two years later when we had relocated to Cardiff, Marlene Shalton walked in off the streets!

From very early on it was clear that I was better at being an adviser rather than a salesman and struggled until I found my niche. The gradual evolution away from commission-hungry dinosaurs and towards professionalism has been very rewarding but also very frustrating. Progress has been glacial and the wounded commission dinosaurs still seem to roar very loudly.

FP: What has the journey been like since the launch of Heron House Financial Management? How many clients do you have and what’s the annual turnover?

CJ: The journey has been, largely, a most excellent adventure. My partner Saran Allott-Davey and I get on very well and have not had a significant disagreement in 11 years although we don’t agree on everything and we have different styles with clients and with staff. The business has grown 10 years out of 11 and given the global trials and tribulations over that period we have to be pleased with the progress we have made. We had three staff when I arrived and now there are 11 of us in the team. It is rare for people to leave us and the average length of service currently is seven years. The forecast turnover for 2011/12 is £800,000 and we have 470 active clients.

FP: What type of Financial Planning do you offer and what are your fees/ charges? Do you see yourself as Financial Planners or wealth managers?

CJ: We see ourselves as Financial Planners and wealth managers. We have team members who come from a grounding in both disciplines. Most of our clients can be described as successful, busy people who need to be kept focused on their goals and need to be organised, sometimes both financially and personally. We have different propositions, relating to service levels and different minimum fees for each. The lower fee and service proposition is usually selected by family members of our most profitable clients, such as their children. Most clients prefer to link fees with asset value, but it is not exclusive, as some clients pay monthly fees. All team members have a charge out rate based on their experience and qualifications, but we have gradually moved away from hourly fee charging over the last few years.

FP: What sort of clients do you target and how do you differentiate your service from other companies?

CJ: All clients must be profitable, the only cross subsidisation of fees that occurs is between generations within a family set of clients. Parents may ask us to look after their children for example. The next generation would not necessarily get a full lifetime cashflow forecast, however, unless they can afford it or their parents pay for it. It then becomes something to aspire to. If you give your intellectual property away, its value is worth exactly what the client has paid for it...nothing!

We aim to build long term relationships with clients which is why it is important that they fit into our proposition and that we like them and hopefully they like us! Even if a client is filthy rich they can still be black-balled.

Differentiation has not been an issue for us in the past, but we continue to build on the qualifications we have attained throughout the practice and continue to fine tune our proposition. Entering competitions and awards also helps.

FP: How do you find new clients and what have been some of your best practices to source new clients? Please give examples of what works most effectively?

CJ: We have a small but valued panel of professional connections who know us well and understand the type of client to send us. Referral from existing clients is still very important to us. We have done a lot of press in the past and obtained column inches through winning awards. We have in the past written many press articles and have been weekly broadcasters on the local BBC network, but have found that this approach is not as successful for target marketing. It does, however, provide further validation to existing clients and does spread the Financial Planning message.

FP: You're qualified as both a Financial Planner and an investment manager, how does this combination help your clients? How is important is the investment management process to the overall service you provide?

CJ: It helps bring clients through the door but it is then dependent on the chemistry between us. This is a contentious point but it is my view that you are a more rounded adviser by being investment and personal planning orientated. There is a big movement towards outsourcing and we hear a lot of views on this subject, particularly “you can’t be a proper planner and investment adviser.” We don’t subscribe to that point of view but understand that we are a broad church and accept different practices and different viewpoints. We have a team around us to gather information and provide their opinion, but understand that if you are working in a small team or as a sole trader, it may be more appropriate to outsource. It causes concern, however, when outsourcing is used as a way to generate higher fees when effectively they are charging more for doing less.FP: You’re qualified both as a Financial Planner and an investment manager, how does this combination help your clients? How important is the investment management process to the overall service you provide?

FP: Are you and the firm ready for RDR?

CJ: RDR is not a problem for us as the fee-based Financial Planning ethos is at the heart of our proposition. We do have a couple of gaps to fill and we need to obtain our SPSs on an individual basis. There is plenty of help out there, particularly fromtheIFP,but I am sure it is not going to be an issue for the readership of Financial Planner.

FP: In terms of running your business, what software applications do you use (particularly in reference to Financial Planning and back office software) and what sort of processes do you run to ensure things run smoothly? Do you have a weekly practice meeting, for example?

CJ: Truth for cashflow modelling; Avelo (1st) as our back office system; Financial Express for fund and portfolio analysis; Watermark as a document management system and O&M Pension Profiler.  We have daily meetings with certain team members and a Monday morning weekly meeting for all the team. We have bi-monthly business planning meetings and compliance meetings. The meeting of the Investment Board is bi-monthly, unless a particular issue needs to be discussed. Staff training sessions are run when an issue is identified and we have regular case conferences to obtain a second or third opinion on a specific client-related planning issue.

FP: What has been your greatest source of achievement in running your business and what are you proudest of?

CJ: While being financially successful keeps the company going and the team in a job, helping clients achieve whatever their particular goal has been set as and obtaining their gratitude provides a constant buzz. Earning the respect of other professionals, particularly by winning awards, is extremely gratifying. There have been two clear occasions over the last 24 years where I nearly gave up on being a planner, initially through a lack of success and financial hardship and secondly through stress. I take pride in still being here and still trying to do a good job for my clients.

FP: Many planners are concerned about the rising cost of regulation. What are the main threats to your business?

CJ: Resting on our laurels and becoming over confident in our abilities. It is important to continue evolving to try to do a better job and to improve on everything you do. Financial Planners should not see any external threats, just opportunities.

FP: If you could change anything about the profession what would it be?

CJ: I would stop transaction-based advisers from calling themselves Financial Planners. The muddy waters that currently exist will only become more transparent, post RDR, in certain respects, but more opaque in other respects. It will become even more important to differentiate the profession of Financial Planning in future, which I think is gaining momentum but still needs a lot of work.