Ken Davy  

What three words for financial services?

Ken Davy

Ken Davy

Individual advisers, adaptable as ever, picked up the phones to provide comfort and reassurance to their clients, with some even making the odd video call.

Alongside this, companies dramatically advanced their own technological capabilities, so that making video calls both socially and for business quickly became the norm.

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Within a couple of months with millions of people working from home, and many families forced to stay apart, the video call became an everyday event, and almost as natural as meeting face-to-face. It is now beyond question that the impact of video calling has transformed society and business.

Financial advisers have shared the nation's trauma and are now capitalising on the advances in technology as they transform their businesses. The effects are already showing through but, in the longer term, I believe the transformational impact on our business models and profitability is going to be enormous.

Recently, in a single day, I had two meetings in London, one in Glasgow, two in Huddersfield and another in Manchester, while I finished off the day with a couple of social events, one in Huddersfield and the other in Leeds.

I hasten to add that not all my days are quite that busy.

Nonetheless, it would have taken me at least three - possibly four - days to achieve this without the use of video technology. In addition, I would have had the time, cost and wasted effort of travelling.

Applying the same logic and principles to how we work with our clients clearly shows how dramatic the impact of technology will be on us as financial advisers.

With less effort, but increased effectiveness, we can serve many more clients than we do at present; this, in turn, will have a significant impact on our success and profitability.

While advisers were not lost, nor did financial services need rescuing, I believe our three words of, trauma, technology and transformation, are going to deliver a massive boost to financial advice.

The potential benefits this will bring for society as a whole are huge, as it will enable us to improve the financial outcomes of many thousands of clients we would not otherwise have been able to serve.

Ken Davy is chairman of The SimplyBiz Group