OctoBlast: Chris Jones on galvanising adviser due diligence processes

Octo Members
12 August 2019
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A 14-minute watch.

With a confluence of professional bodies, investment managers, advisers and regulators all increasingly focused on process and due diligence to ensure end-clients are better served, Lee Robertson sits down with DD hub’s Chris Jones to chat through regulator requirements and the help his company provides advisers on due diligence. 

The context here is broad, as Chris explains: “The FCA is really focused on the best customer outcomes, and they want the adviser to have the best process in place to deliver those outcomes”.

He adds that putting robust processes in place is no short order, and that “you don’t need lots of resource, but you need to know what you’re doing”, and points to the need of “a good framework for evaluating the information you get back”.

So what’s the most common issue he finds with adviser due diligence? A mismatch between adviser and DFM. In the Q&A packs often provided by DFMs, Chris says, it’s often a case of the answers they want to give, rather than the answers the adviser wants to find out.

Chris goes on to outline the free solutions his company provides advisers to help in this regard, including a database of useful questions and pick n’ mix or pre-populated questionnaires.

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