Member Article

Bdaily talks to David Wilson from NE Money

NE Money are a financial services firm based in the North East. Bdaily spoke to Managing Director David Wilson to get the inside view of the financial advice sector, and how changes in the industry are good for his company, clients and their employees.

Reforms to the Independent Financial Advisory (IFA) industry will be implemented on 31st December which means that firms will have to disclose and separately charge fees for their services, a move which will see the industry move away from commission based income. David Wilson explained what this means for NE Money and the industry.

“A lot of IFA’s have been unsettled because of the regulation laws currently in place that mean firms don’t want to be in the spotlight. This is the opposite of what NE Money is about. There is a big change coming up at the end of the year to the way IFA’s can charge for their services. The Retail Distribution Review (RDR) will look to remove potential commission bias, forcing firms to use a fee based model with the hope that client relationships with advisers have a lot more clarity. By taking away the commission bias of fees, companies will have to be far more transparent, which is something that NE Money has always been committed to.”

David told us about how the fees model changes will affect NE Money and how they will tackle transformations in the industry.

“The RDR review means that some IFAs will choose to leave the sector, and there will be higher demand for financial advice because there will be fewer firms handling business needs. We are already seeing a big push from business owners to put in financial structures for their businesses, this includes strategies that start at the top and filter down to employees.”

“At NE Money we think it’s really important to be accessible and totally transparent to advise companies and their staff. Financial advice is something everyone needs but the changes could see some people unable to access it due to perceived cost barriers. We want to encourage companies to give their employees access to advisers in order manage their personal finances. Employers can take a positive stance by encouraging and allowing staff to access advice through their own adviser relationships.”

“This is all part of our ‘Employee Engagement Strategies’ and big changes in pension schemes which are coming up are proving a positive catalyst to the uptake of this service.”

The IFA industry has long been given a bad reputation, and lack of clarity around the sector is a major contributor to this image. David told us how he hopes NE Money are working to dispel these issues.

“Myself and my partner Simon Davis come from banking backgrounds, have worked in insolvency and debt resolution with NE Money and have broad experience in commercial finance. Because of this I feel we’re in a better position than many firms to help businesses with a broad range of issues. Our main thrust is that we’re “business to business” with a focus on long term relationships, not just transactional”.

“For too long there’s been a dark cloud over the industry. We have a policy to just say it as it is, and insist on productive client relationships. Clients trust us because we’re visible in the business community, not just hiding behind a posh desk. Whether its social media, local press or networking we like to be out there talking frankly about what we do and our industry”

As a North East-based company, visibility is important to NE Money. Bdaily found out about how the firm communicate with the businesses they work with.

“The key to our client relationships is to maintain an accessible and friendly dialogue. We catch up with our customers regularly to maintain a brilliant rapport that we’re proud of. We work with a lot of digital and creative industry firms, and we provide advice on things from tax and financial planning through to buying business premises, which not many IFAs deal with. It is a principle of our brand that we are locally trusted, focussed and remain at the top of the IFA and advisory sector in the North East. “

NE Money was established in 2008 and work with around 300 clients in the North East and North West. They also host a twice monthly networking event (The Curry Club) held in Newcastle and Teesside.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .