SW: What about ESG and sustainable investing? Is this something that came through particularly strongly from the report as an important criteria for clients?
VSH: Yes, once again it is showing very strongly as a key factor for clients. We all know the story but perhaps we could consider a slightly different angle here? This is a sweeping generalisation for which I apologise, but I think it’s true to say that, in general, younger people tend to be much more influenced by social and sustainable issues than older generations.
I think that ESG investing is therefore an area where advisers need to think strategically. For example, I was listening to the radio the other day and a financial advert was playing. In it, the provider’s first port call was to start talking about how they’re offering their investors access to sustainable funds, about how people can save with them and also help the planet.
Of course, we all know that the move to net zero is really important. We know that most advisers are already considering clients’ ESG objectives at the initial fact-finding stage and at review meetings. However, I think if an adviser is not addressing these points with the whole family, then they may run the risk that they could ultimately lose the clients’ business and any funds under management.
I’ll explain what I mean. Let’s consider a scenario where beneficiaries could, at some point in the future, be thinking that as they are more interested in sustainable investments and Mum/ Dad’s money wasn’t invested sustainably, they would naturally think they should take it elsewhere and sever the ties with the original adviser to move somewhere else more in line with their sustainable goals.
I think there is a danger that if advisers don’t start addressing big issues like this with their clients’ family, they run the risk of losing the clients’ business, perhaps as they start looking elsewhere or being influenced in different directions.
SW: I know that M&G Wealth is well known for providing excellent resources for advisers. Could you just highlight a few ways in which you can help advisers and paraplanners who may be providing advice in this really important area of intergenerational planning?
VSH: Yes, there are lots of good things available. To support new conversations with new and existing clients on intergenerational financial planning, we’ve incorporated the key learnings from the research into a specialist intergenerational planning hub where advisers can find videos from M&G Wealth’s technical team, online tools and calculators as well as insight on intergenerational financial planning.
I’ll pick out just a few other elements here.
We recently launched an excellent new IHT calculator which can really help advisers to calculate the sums easily when looking at specific client situations. It is well worth a look and can save advisers a lot of time.
We’ve also got a complete range of trusts, with supporting technical information as to what trust works in any particular situation. Advisers can also access a whole range of articles and guides which have been designed for advisers to use with their clients in order to help them to more fully understand a strategy their adviser is recommending to them and why it might be relevant to their needs.
It might also be that advisers want to say take some of the wording and use it in their communications with clients. Sometimes starting the conversation about intergenerational planning can be one of the hardest challenges with clients. That’s because some clients find it really difficult to engage and talk about what they want to happen to their finances after their death. It’s understandable of course, but hopefully, our resources can make those conversations a little bit easier for advisers to have.
Talking broadly, the latest version of our Family Wealth Unlocked Report which is available now, enables advisers to have more informed intergenerational planning conversations with their clients. It gives all sorts of insights into how families are sharing advisers across generations, how conversations about inheritance are taking place openly and how gifting strategies are being deployed to support children and grandchildren.
One thing we’ve always been good at is providing advisers with technical support. That’s still the case of course, and there’s plenty of technical help and resources available through our specialist teams.
For example, if advisers have got particularly tricky cases to work through, perhaps they want to discuss the implications of using particular trusts or IHT plans or indeed anything. They’re able to speak to our excellent technical team and will have access to experts who can really help them to get to the bottom of those thorny questions and work through some solutions.
SW: How can advisers access these resources?
VSH: They are all available on this website – which I know many advisers and paraplanners will be used to accessing. All the tools and the calculators that I’ve mentioned are available here, plus lots more really useful resources too. It’s well worth a visit.
Click here to access more resources
About Vince Smith-Hughes
Vince Smith-Hughes is Director of Specialist Business Support at M&G Wealth.
He has worked in the financial services profession for over 35 years and has previous experience as an IFA as well as holding senior pension roles at Clerical Medical and Winterthur Life.
Vince is an experienced platform presenter at industry events and a regular contributor to trade and national publications on all matters relating to financial planning. He is a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society
