threesixty Offers Solution to TCF Confusion
|
“Successful TCF programmes should meet the expectations of all partners...simply setting objectives will not be enough."
threesixty Partner, David Brattesani |
|
|
IFA firms cannot underestimate the rigorous actions they must take in response to the FSA’s Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) regulations if they are to avoid falling foul of the new rules, David Brattesani, a Partner at threesixty, told delegates at the annual conference of the Personal Finance Society today.
The danger is that the ‘principle-based’ nature of the TCF rules will leave many IFAs confused with no idea about what action to take, Brattesani said at the conference, which was held at the International Conference Centre in Birmingham. The seminar hall was packed out with over one hundred and fifty delegates, which reflected the deep concerns among IFAs about TCF.
Brattesani laid down a six-point plan to help senior managers of IFA firms address the FSA’s minimum TCF requirements and bring about tangible benefits to both customers and the businesses.
The six points included:
- Establish clearly defined objectives in all key areas in conjunction with advisers and staff
- Conduct a well-documented review of the firm’s current processes that will assist in the creation of a plan specifically designed to meet TCF objectives
- Establish a communications plan to explain the firm’s TCF principles and the behavioural changes that it expects staff to make
- Implement a rigorous training and competence programme to ensure that staff have the correct tools to deliver the desired customer outcomes
- Update the role of human resources in the firm, redesigning appraisals and scorecards to focus on customer outcomes and reflect adherence to a firm’s TCF principles
- Consider whether appropriate forums should be established in the business such that middle and lower management can give and receive feedback on TCF issues at the ‘coal-face’
Brattesani said: “Successful TCF programmes should meet the expectations of all partners – regulators, shareholders, employees, business partners and customers. A properly embedded programme, aligned with broader sales, marketing and operational strategies, should improve the customer experience and in turn revenue income. That would be an outcome that everyone would welcome. But simply setting objectives will not be enough. Firms must accept that this is an evolving process that must be kept under review.”
threesixty, voted the number one IFA services provider*, launched earlier this year a tool to assist IFAs in assessing and demonstrating their compliance with the FSA’s TCF initiative. The ‘TCF Monitor’ is provided free to threesixty’s clients, giving them a unique software solution to meet the regulatory challenge.
*Source: Henry Samuels Marketing Survey, March 2006