The power of advice can be amplified through technology.

If you’re reading this article, and the current edition of iPipeline Quarterly, the chances are you will know a thing or two about us.

You may not know and appreciate the breadth of our solutions, that we provide technology and data right through the financial services value chain – from reinsurer to adviser. You may not know that our portals produce 50% of all advised protection business in the UK.

You may not even know that over 3 in 10 protection applications are made on our provider platform – SSG Digital. 

So, with the shameless plug out the way, I would however, be surprised if you didn’t know what we stand for as an organisation.

At iPipeline, we have always been strong advocates of the need for consumers to secure their financial futures, through protection insurance, savings and investments and proper planning for retirement.

We have also always been huge advocates for financial advice. We know and understand the vital role that expert advisers play in making their clients lives better and more resilient through sound financial plans. Although that’s not to ignore the huge importance of the D2C sector, where crucial cover reaches sectors of the population who choose not to engage with advice. Choice for all is vital.

But the sad truth is that advice still reaches too few of the people who would like to access it. For many, the concept of financial advice is alien – either through a lack of logical access points (not everyone can expect to own a home and take out a mortgage) or because their level of personal assets and investments simply aren’t high enough for advisers to be able to engage with them. A minimum figure which is now typically in excess of £200,000 for many advisers.

The result?
A perilous situation where a larger and larger proportion of the population are ill-prepared financially for retirement, coinciding with the first generation for whom final salary schemes are no longer a thing. Equally, despite a population more commonly experiencing chronic health conditions, protection fails to gain a real foothold in society.

So, financial advice is at a crossroads and its future has been the topic of a huge debate in the industry as we consider how guided or targeted, simplified or automated advice might transform a market which is serving too few. We’ve watched with interest as this debate has played out in the press over recent months. It is clear that there is consensus – too few people have access to financial advice. But it is also clear that there are varying opinions about how we can tackle this status quo.

This debate matters as it will have a dramatic impact on the size and shape of the financial services market over the coming years and decades. This debate matters because the size of the financial services and advice markets will be directly linked to the long-term financial security of our nation. All of us do what we do to make a difference. To protect people. To make them prosperous.
So that paints the helicopter view of one of THE defining challenges of our times. How do we unlock the huge power and benefit of financial advice to the mass market?

What becomes clear when you ask this question is that there is no easy answer or quick fix. There are just 28,000 advisers in regulated advice firms in the UK, on average – each of those adviser serves just 127 clients. Advice is currently a supply constrained market.

We wanted to explore this concept in more detail – so we asked John Lappin (ex Money Marketing Editor) and our own Paul Yates to apply their wisdom, experience and analysis to explore just how we got here and how we can revolutionise the advice market for a different future. The resulting whitepaper is an insightful and essential read.

My word limit here means I simply don’t have the real estate to go into detail, but I suppose it goes without saying (as technologists) that we believe technology has a, if not the, crucial role to play. Both in building the foundations of a digital, efficient end-to-end market, and then making the most of those foundations with simple deployment of technology to power guided or simplified advice – for the customers of tomorrow.

So, if this article leaves you wanting to find out more – you can download our latest whitepaper Mind The Gap | Financial Advice.  Unlocking the mass market