Member Article

Behind the business: Newcastle-based Lowes Financial Management

Lowes Financial Management has been managing and protecting their client’s wealth for over 40 years and while the ethos of “Where Personal Finances are Cared for Personally” has remained the same over the years, the firm has continuously developed the expertise it offers to the everyday investor as well as the wider adviser community.

Over the last decade, the company has doubled in size and now 70 individuals work for Lowes. The firm has steadily and selectively been increasing the number of client -facing advisers and this month, former Three Counties IFA practice managing director Nicola Wrightson, a well-respected member of North East financial services industry for 20 years, joined the firm alongside her personal assistant Kathryn Grieves.

Managing Director Ian Lowes says he knows within the first meeting whether someone is of the right calibre and personality to be a Lowes Consultant. It doesn’t put him off that they may come from outside financial services and in fact some of the firm’s best advisers were new to the sector and trained in-house. The ingredients he looks for are those who are professional and amiable, with an ability to build an immediate rapport with clients and a willingness to learn.

However, a client of Lowes does not just receive the advice or service from a single adviser but from a significant network of highly trained individuals behind the scenes whose aim is to ensure the firm provides the highest quality advice and wherever possible, exceed the client’s expectations.

As the company transitions from a large small company to a small large company, growth has been supported by extensive in-house IT expertise and functionality. One of the Lowes stars of the past, Alan Watson, who left in 2003, has rejoined the firm with a wealth of experience under his belt, which will help the firm embark on future IT development.

Being at the forefront of such activities also comes with challenges and threats, and security of client data is a key priority for Alan and his team. Offline and online services, such as portfolio valuations, offered to clients will see improvements as a result of technological developments Lowes are implementing into the business.

In addition to its financial planning service offered to consumers, Lowes has been running market-leading research sites with information on structured products for 15 years. These are investments that offer defined returns, delivered at defined dates with performance linked to an underlying measurement, usually an index such as the FTSE 100. CompareStructuredProducts.com is the consumer-facing site, while 10,000 financial services professionals have registered to access StructuredProductReview.com to research these products.

Nationally, Lowes are renowned for their structured products expertise and one of the UK’s leading and longest standing specialists in the sector, Chris Taylor, has relocated to Newcastle to work for Lowes Group. His appointment forms the foundation of Lowes communicating their ideas about new variations of these investments, which product providers are keen to hear, and helping with distribution to other financial advisers.

Modifications to the research sites to improve their functionality and broaden their reach is on the agenda, and digital marketing expertise, a relatively new string to the company’s bow, has been used to develop the appeal of these sites, as well as Lowes’ traditional financial advice service.

It is important for Lowes to combine a traditional and digital approach. While clients are online and internet savvy, many of them still value the face to face and paper approach, which is clear in the attendance to the firm’s educational seminars. Over 99% of the thousands of people who attended over the last five years and completed an appraisal form rated their attendance at a Lowes seminar as time well spent.

The demand for proper Independent Financial Advice has been increased by the pension reforms and has been flagged in the knee jerk reactions of people withdrawing their pensions. Lowes has bolstered their pensions department with a number of new additions over the last year and a guide on the changes to the pensions regime was provided to over 15,000 people across the North East. This stimulated enquiries and Lowes plans to continue its educational effort through such information resources and seminars.

Making life easier for clients is part of Lowes’ aims and a recent development has been to migrate the assets of their offshore fund, onshore to avoid the restrictions that now surround non-UK-based investments. This now not only provides better access for clients but also means that other advisers can now tap into Lowes’ structured products and wider investment management expertise for their own clients via the fund.

The quality of Lowes’ investment advice was recognised in their latest biennial client satisfaction survey, where over 96% of respondents rated the firm as “good” or “very good” at investment advice. While managing director Ian Lowes plans to consider further hires and business acquisitions to broaden the reach of the company, despite any growth, he wants to maintain the ‘people-led’ business culture. Clients agree- as over 97% of survey respondents believe that the service reflects the company ethos of “Where Personal Finances are Cared for Personally”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lowes Financial Management .