‘No implementation, no fee’
As well as making advice accessible on the high street, and not requiring a minimum investment, Newcastle Financial Advisers only charges customers if they decide to implement the advice. Potential clients can also view a menu of advice fees and charges online.
If they decide to go ahead with initial advice, clients can pay their initial advice fees as a percentage of the amount they invest or at an hourly rate, before choosing their level of ongoing service from: continuous advice with a review every year, continuous advice with a review every other year, or advice on demand.
But is a ‘no implementation, no fee’ model difficult to operate profitably?
“We believe that if the customer’s perception was that they were immediately going to be on the clock when they sat down to have a discussion with a financial adviser, that doesn't really connect with our desire to provide authentic, open and accessible financial advice,” says Lightfoot.
“From a commercial perspective, does that provide us with any concerns or challenges? Not really.
“We'll only move forward from initial appointment to either a recommendation appointment or doing some work for a customer if we're sure from the customer's perspective, and our perspective, that we're going to be able to add some value.
“So when we move through, ultimately to present recommendations to customers, the vast majority of those recommendations proceed as a very fact of the matter that we've got to know our customer through the advice journey, and we're sure and confident that we're going to be able to work together moving forward.”
A five-year plan
Like other firms, Lightfoot says acquisition is a core part of Newcastle Financial Advisers’ plans for growth. In June, the firm announced it had acquired Keith Dyson Financial Consultancy, its third deal so far.
“We have a vision over the next five years that we want to more than double the business,” says Lightfoot. “I wouldn't want to put a specific number on that, because really, it's very much about helping more customers across the North East and the North West as well.
“Acquisition is one of the ways that we can do that from a financial advisory perspective. We do see ourselves being more active over the coming years in this space than we've been over the past few years.
“We're looking to be more acquisitive…We want to grow adviser numbers, and acquisition will be a part of that.
“But also we see the opportunity to bring further new advisers into the business, and for those advisers not necessarily to operate directly from Newcastle Building Society branches.
