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Astute file audit promising Astute has started auditing mortgage adviser files and is pleased with what it has found so far. Chief executive Sarah Johnston says the key issue is around record keeping and making sure advisers write down notes around what they are doing. “I’ve not found anything that would make me resign,” she says. She says part of the audit process is to understand the rationale of why an adviser has picked a particular lender for a deal. “We don’t dictate where business goes,” she says. Rather advisers have to demonstrate they went through a process and can prove their decision. The auditing is being taken seriously and all the results are presented to Astute’s board. The group currently has 120 advisers. “We currently process two to four audits per day, meaning that each
month we have processed 40-60 [audits],” she says. “We can increase this number at any time but we are using this time to help our advisers to upskill their record keeping and use of GEM. “Each adviser gets an email with their results, and a follow up phone call with our GEM trainer to see if any further assistance or explanation can be given.” Johnston says advisers need to go through a bit of a mindset change and move from “compliance to commitment”. “[Mortgage advice is] a profession not a job.” “We believe the conduct regime we are entering into is not about ‘simply going through the motions’ or just meeting the minimum requirements.
“It is our commitment to our advisers that led [to] us taking the leadership in going for our own transitional financial advice provider licence and inviting advisers to be authorised bodies under our licence so that together we create that culture of commitment for our clients. “By fostering a culture of commitment where everyone is willing to do what needs to be done, and they do it no matter what it takes, will see us coming up with new ways to achieve results better, cheaper, and faster for our clients. We believe this is the best way to demonstrate ‘clients first’.” Advisers cannot lose sight of the requirement to put clients first, she says.
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