Hendry recognises that he "can't give the best advice if I don't have all the information to hand", and that it can be easier to gather some of the soft facts in a face to face conversation than an online chat.
But it depends on the client, he says. The newer ones, who might still be working and not necessarily live nearby are more happy to do remote calls, as long as the service and the conversation are good, he says, whereas some of the older ones, who may have perhaps retired, prefer an in person service.
"It's a bit of a mix, but certainly my experience at the moment is earlier on people are quite happy to almost just do it remotely but I think that's more just life at the moment. People are happier and more comfortable doing stuff on video than they were previously."
According to the Financial Technology Research Centre, advisers should avoid making assumptions about which clients might prefer a tech based approach over others.
Tim Thompson-Rye said at the recent Advice Tech Forum there was a "danger of stereotyping and assuming" that for instance high-net-worth clients would primarily opt for face-to-face advice, when the opposite seemed to be true.
Research suggested with a higher AUM came a greater propensity for tech-based interactions, he said.
Similarly, he cautioned against assuming that age dictated how one would want to receive financial advice.
“We did some analysis on our own portal. We found that the older client was spending more time using the client portal, which kind of flipped our thinking because we just assumed that the younger clients would use the tech more.”
Experts at the forum agreed a good hybrid advice proposition was one where the tech enhanced the relationship the client had with their adviser rather than one that detracted from it in any way.
For Hendry, doing meetings remotely has the obvious benefit of being more efficient for the adviser, particularly in the early meetings which are not paid for. But it also saves the client time travelling to a meeting where they might conclude the service is not for them.
On the flipside, he says there will always be a place for face-to-face interaction. The majority of his annual meetings are still held in this way, he says.
Why is this? "Because giving advice and working with clients is typically a longer-term relationship I think there will always be a good place for that face-to-face interaction, and that ability to build rapport."
In fact, he adds: "You should be in a position where you're able to go for a cup of tea and chat with clients, and know enough about what's going on without having to talk any kind of business with them.
