A lot of financial advisers are “fearful of being niche”, according to Willow Brook Lifestyle Financial Planning principal, Ceri Griffiths.
Griffiths, an adviser who works with women seeking divorces, said while some advisers believe being a generalist will secure more clients, in the current environment, “people are very particular about who they reach out to”.
She added consumers want feel the advice they are given personally resonates with them.
“If they look on your website and you do everything for everyone it doesn’t have the same impact if they look and they find somebody who only gives specialist advice,” she said.
“When you are deeply passionate about what you do, it attracts clients because they can see that you are there to make an impact and make a difference.
“Being really hyper niche in an area that you are passionate about means that you attract clients and that you love working with them and life is just really enjoyable.”
While Griffiths encouraged advisers to be niche where they can, she acknowledged the place that being a generalist has in the adviser space.
“I think being a generalist is still applicable because you are going to help your clients with everything, post the event they’ve reached out to you for so you still need to know everything,” she explained.
“However, in terms of finding your tribe and the people who want to work with you, niche is a really key place to get to.”
Co-operation
Griffiths is involved in an online group which supports advisers in the same niche as her, called Financial Planning on Separation.
The Facebook group with around 50 members provides a space for advisers who don’t feel confident in the divorce area, she said.
“You have this team of experts answering any and all questions and giving advice and supporting those who are maybe unsure,” she said.
She said group members also pass on client to other members if they don’t have the capacity to work with them.
“It’s really rare to see IFAs and restricted advisers coming together for the good of the client and we need more of that,” said Griffiths.
“There is too much noise around the pros and cons of being restricted or an IFA and I think that actually does our profession harm.
“We need to stop arguing about those things and, instead, focus on agreeing what great advice looks like.”
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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