BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS
…IF IT’S NOT HURTING YOU ARE NOT DOING IT RIGHT
Lawrence Cook, Head of UK Intermediary Distribution at Sanlam, discusses the ‘if it’s hurting it’s working’ school of thought.
Don’t panic that this is some sadistic ritual from an ancient cult. It’s rather more prosaic than that. “…If it’s not hurting you are not doing it right” was a comment from a compliance officer referring to implementation of MIFID II for financial services firms. His contention was that firms who have breezed through MIFID II are very likely not to be up to speed with the ramifications of the raft of obligations contained in these regulations and if they were, they would be feeling a lot of pain. The difficulty with such comments is that they may have some general use but are not particular or specific. My own experience is that it really depends on who you speak to. 10
In a recent meeting with a successful IFA wealth management business the managing director proudly explained how the business had developed and was set to reach new heights in the coming years. It was going swimmingly until the operations director answered a couple of points about where the business was experiencing pinch points. She explained how each time the advisory model portfolio was reviewed it led to a long chain of administration which was increasingly difficult to manage, so much so she was worried about being able to do what clients had been promised.
