Hurst Point MD: ‘I wanted to act like a big IFA before we got there’

PE-backed Hurst Point Group has dedicated resources to comply with the consumer duty to replicate what some of the bigger IFA groups do.

Speaking to FTAdviser, John White, managing director of Hurst Point’s financial planning division Argentis, said upon taking on his new role, he looked to ensure the business knew what the client wants as opposed to what the adviser thinks the client wants.

He said the group put in propositional changes last October and has been operating with these for six months. 

Last week, Hurst Point Group, which is a subsidiary of private equity parent Carlyle, bought wealth manager Helm Godfrey in a deal which will see it add £1bn of assets under advice and £0.5bn of assets under management to the firm.

This came after last July when the group announced that it had bought Metis Wealth and Metis Asset Management.

White said every deal is being done to the same propositions. 

“Some of the interesting things are the platform due diligence - of whether we're doing enough to make sure that we've asked the right questions,” he said. 

“There is a level of bringing in external compliance type consultants to check you are doing the right things but again, they're in the same boat.”

White explained that he is trying to concentrate on the client and argued the key bits to this is asking the clients what they want.

“The positive of the consumer duty is that it is forcing our businesses to actually go and ask the clients what they want. 

 There is an element of selling your soul to the devil, at any level. It's just because of how good or bad the devil is.

“The focus group really is the client surveys. Most firms do a level of client survey but the focus group stuff tends to be for the big IFAs or has been in the past. 

“You find out all sorts about what you think is important to the client.”

He argued that often, businesses rely on what the adviser thinks is important for the client, which can be different to what the client wants.

“For me, that's actually the time that I want to spend the most time on,” he said. 

“When I joined, I appointed Natalie Kempster to be head of clients because I wanted to put that kind of perspective in there. 

“I knew that was something that some of the bigger IFA businesses did and I wanted to act like a big one before we got there.” 

Selling your soul

White is a lifelong financial planner and has spent 20 years working for financial services and accountancy practices.

“That's been my bread and butter through the years,” he said.