Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Independent Firms Flourishing Under Wealth Management Changes

Independent Firms are set to benefit from regulation changes to the wealth management industry. Wealth Management is an industry that continues to grow in the UK and the rest of the world and with new regulations coming into play the face of the wealth management industry is changing.

In this blog post Dian Skelton looks at these changes to the wealth management industry and discusses why it is a good thing, not just for independent firms, but big banks as well.

Banking Overhauls

Dian Skelton is Director at ViewPoint Software Services Limited. ViewPoint specialises in wealth and entity management solutions.

It seems that several of the UK’s largest banks have been involved in structural overhauls in recent months. Barclays’ wealth management division and Royal Bank of Scotland in particular have made significant changes to their structuring, in what appears to be an effort to simplify and re-focus their attention for better results and customer satisfaction.

Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to sell the overseas operations of Coutts, its private banking branch. While on the domestic front, it will merge Coutts with its UK commercial lending division.  

US banks have also been restructuring; with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley pulling out of the European wealth management industry to focus on America’s domestic market, which will inevitable result in them loosing clients.

How Does This Help Independent Firms

Of Course the restructuring of large banks may bring positive results in the future, but at this moment it means that relationships between bank and client will deteriorate temporarily, leaving the window open for independent firms to hire and poach new clients.

There are numerous examples of this to choose from, perhaps most notable in this case is Signia Wealth. Signia was set up by former Coutts Senior Client Partner Nathalie Dauriac-Stoebe in 2010 and specialises in private banking and asset management.

Stoebe is just one example of how independent firm and individuals can take advantage of the opportunities that are available in the wealth management industry.

Dian Skelton’s Thoughts

As an expert in this industry, Dian understands the opportunities that are available for independent firms. She agrees with other industry experts when they say that there is a fertile market to take advantage of.

Dian also commended these firms on their astuteness in identifying the gap in the industry and taking advantage of it. As well learning from banks mistakes and delivering a convincing pitch that bankers are more concerned with hitting revenue targets than advising clients, a mistake that independent firms will not make.     

     


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