| Good morning, and welcome to another working week.
At our national conference in Birmingham last month, I had the chance to outline again our vision for Continuum’s future, and detail plans for further growth.
Businesses talk about growth a lot. And in financial services, where the “advice gap” must narrow, growth is a laudable ambition.
It is also over-egged and potentially dangerous. Growth for growth’s sake can be harmful not only to colleagues but to clients, too.
Over the past month, we welcomed five new advisers, an 8% increase that takes our total number to 77. It could have been more.
We are in the fortunate position to be approached by many individuals and small advice firms looking to join us. Continuum is a place people want to work.
But growth must be managed right. Anyone looking to join our partnership has to fit not just economically, but also culturally and philosophically.
These are just some of the questions they must answer satisfactorily before we could invite them in.
What plans are there for client assets? Do they involve moving platforms and producing better outcomes for them? Will the adviser buy in to rigorous new processes and compliance requirements?
Companies always talk about culture. But if a potential new joiner won’t fit with ours, we won’t let them in.
In 2024, our clients grew by 13% to nearly 20,000. They are not a commodity. They are why we exist. To make a real difference to their lives. To be trusted in everything we do. To produce great outcomes for them.
If this sounds basic, I won’t apologise. The financial advice industry cannot be satisfied with where it is now, or think that growth only ever delivers self-fulfilling benefits.
My final message at our conference, after 10 consecutive years of improvement in every measure we look at, was to highlight that nine in 10 clients were happy to recommend us to others. Great by industry standards, but still not good enough.
Every client must our advocate. That’s the ambition. That’s the kind of growth worth having.
As always, thanks for listening.
Martin.
Martin Brown, managing partner at Continuum, was talking to Gary Parkinson, former financial journalist at The Times and BBC. |
