Over the years, NS&I has established a strong track record of working with advice and planning firms. Recent developments look to boost these relationships further as service enhancements are greeted positively by the financial advice community.
There has always been an assumption that the best working relationships are often formed in person. However, during the pandemic, many within the advice industry have started to question this simple statement.
Advice firms are now relying on other ways to form trusted relationships with their clients and can no longer rely simply on the connection that is often gained from face to face interaction.
A ‘trust halo’ effect
The NS&I brand is well known for the trust and security it brings to a financial portfolio. Its backing by HM Treasury provides 100% security for all money saved, even above the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) limit. This means that NS&I’s products often provide added peace of mind and ultimately a ‘trust halo’ effect for advice firms with their clients.
The COVID-19 pandemic means that financial advisers are now needed more than ever, to support and nurture their clients’ financial plan through these turbulent times. As the default home for cash and a ‘safety net’ during a crisis, NS&I can be the perfect way to create a secure safety buffer to protect your clients’ money.
Getting more from NS&I
It is not only the adviser-client relationship which has had to adapt to the pandemic, but also the working relationship between those within the advice firm.
Over the last two years NS&I has introduced a range of service enhancements including:
- A new indefinite Letter of Authority template removing the need to complete a new one every time
- A Terms of Business Agreement for firms to complete in order to protect all parties including clients
- An enhanced Adviser Helpline service, enabling information on clients’ holdings to be accessed over the phone
- A new dedicated online service for advice firms, giving them digital access to their clients’ NS&I holdings for the first time…
These improvements have been designed and developed with advice firms in mind, all with the aim of saving you time and helping you work more efficiently.
Once registered, anyone within the advice firm can be given access to NS&I’s dedicated online service. This tool allows firms to work better remotely, with access to view their clients’ NS&I holdings just at the touch of a button.
Information at your fingertips
With barriers to interacting with your clients, it is now much harder to ask them directly about their NS&I holdings. Instead, using the online service allows your firm easy access to view your clients’ NS&I holdings online, including all valuations of their fixed-term investments and maturity dates, their Premium Bonds prize history and copies of NS&I statements and other communications sent to your client.
With the recent move to working remotely more often, there has never been a time when these service enhancements are more relevant to advice firms. They will allow your firm easy and efficient access to the information you need whilst working remotely and therefore improve the onward service you provide to your clients.
Nearly 1,000 firms have already registered for this service and thus reaping the benefits for their client relationships.
Click here to find out how you can join them and register for this useful service
