Each month Financial Planner interviews a leading Financial Planner to ask him or her to share best practice from their business. This issue we talk to IFP Vice-President Alan Dick CFP^CM of FortyTwo Wealth Management in Glasgow.
Financial Planner: Congratulations on your new role as Vice-President of the IFP. Are you looking forward to the role and working with Rebecca Taylor, the new IFP President?
Alan Dick CFP^CM: Absolutely, I've been working with Rebecca since 2008 anyway so I don't see a huge change in that respect. The IFP has been really lucky in having a long line of fantastic Presidents. I don't foresee a massive change but my role as VP will involve supporting Rebecca and preparing for the role of President, I'll also be attending more branch meetings around the country. Every member of the board puts in a huge amount of effort and commitment. This is an exciting time for the Financial Planning profession, it's really coming of age.

FP: Were you approached for the role or did you nominate yourself? What qualities do you think you bring to the Board?
AD: Periodically the IFP announce vacancies for board members. I saw the notice back in 2007 and put myself forward. I was fortunate enough to be elected to the Board by the IFP members. Having served on the Board for five years I then put myself forward for the role of VP. I think I bring commitment and an enthusiasm and passion for Financial Planning with the ability to be able to communicate that passion with others. I want to stand up and shout about it! The Board is full of experienced people from different sized firms so we all bring something different.

FP: How did you first get into Financial Planning and what attracted you to the profession?
AD: I got into Financial Planning by accident. I left school with ambitions of being a rockstar but eventually my dad told me I had to get a job. My first job was doing admin at Standard Life but I felt I was still only killing time until I got to be a rockstar. Nevertheless, the firm made me take exams and I'm grateful for that now. Then I decided I had to get to the next level in the firm and applied for the position of sales consultant only to be turned down. A colleague saw me after I didn't get the job and said to me "Your face doesn't fit, it never will, get out while you still can" which was a turning point for me. I then left Standard Life and joined a traditional IFA firm instead.
In 2000, the FSA released a predecessor to the RDR CP121 which talked about fees and I felt that was the way forward. I then heard Peter Griffith- Buchanan speak at an IFP event and had a light- bulb moment about what Financial Planning was so I joined the IFP and sat the CFP^CM certification exam which transformed my career.

FP: Does the Financial Planning scene in Scotland differ from that in the rest of the UK?
AD: I don't think it does, what we may have more of is joint ventures with lawyers and accountants and in-house Financial Planning. Unfortunately, many of these ventures have failed and people got their fingers burnt because they weren't doing proper checks which is a shame. Geographically, we have a smaller number of Financial Planners covering almost a third of the UK which makes it difficult to have the same concentration of meetings. Nicola Jackson and Sandy Robertson are doing a great job with the branch network though, I haven't seen the same community of Financial Planners who are so keen to share their knowledge and experience outside the IFP network.
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FP: Why did you decide to set up your own company and what was the thinking behind the name FortyTwo?
AD: The founder of the IFA firm I was working for decided to emigrate and I was part of the succession plan. There were two parts to the firm- general insurance and financial services - but it was eventually decided the general insurance part was not big enough which just left me with the financial services part. In 2005, we rebranded the whole model and the focus of the firm.
The name 'FortyTwo' comes from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where 42 is the answer to the life, the universe and everything. What is more important than making sure your family are looked after? It's also about how you don't have the wrong answer but instead have asked the wrong question. I think the traditional IFA model is asking the wrong questions.
I did have a minor panic when I chose the name though and had to re-read the book to check the number was actually 42 before I got everything printed!

FP: How has your team or company changed since the launch and what has the journey been like? How many clients do you have?
AD: It's been very consistent, our office manager Melanie has been with the firm from before it became FortyTwo and makes the place run smoothly. We also hired a Paraplanner Donald who joined us in June 2011 who brings a very analytical capacity to the firm. We have 57 clients.

FP: What type of Financial Planning do you offer to clients and what are your fees/charges?
AD: We offer comprehensive lifestyle Financial Planning to our clients, looking at people rather than money. We help people to answer the big question which is "Am I going to be OK?" and give them security. We have a fixed-fee for the initial Financial Planning stage which is £2,500- £3,000 then one per cent on implementation or consolidation, irrespective of the tax wrapper, then one per cent per annum (subject to a minimum fee) for all other Financial Planning.

FP: How do you find new clients and what have been some of your best practices in terms of sourcing new clients? Please give examples of what works most effectively?
AD: They find us! We started out wanting to have 40 clients which we achieved but then we realised they didn't take up as much time as we had anticipated. We are now actively looking over the next six months for more clients and would like to bring the numbers up to 80, even 85 perhaps. Clients tell us that they refer people to us but I think we're seeing a disconnect between those who actually follow it up afterwards. The reason we haven't been searching for clients previously is that we wanted to make sure we had a business model that our clients were happy with.

FP: Why did you decide to apply for the register of Accredited Financial Planning Firms^TM and what benefits have you seen since?
AD: I think it's a really important initiative; the register differentiates between those who describe themselves as Financial Planners and those who are actively doing it. It will make it easier to know what a real Financial Planning firm looks like. There are still some great firms out there who are doing Financial Planning but aren't on the register and I hope they join.
There are still some myths about IFP and the Accredited Firms register in particular that need busting. I've heard comments from some firms that they haven't applied because they don't use a passive investment philosophy. There's a misconception that the IFP is pro-passive but that's a complete fallacy, the IFP just wants to see a copy of your financial plan and investment philosophy, it's completely agnostic whether it's active or passive.
One excellent firm told me they hadn't applied because they "don't do cashflow forecasting". Knowing the firm in question I was shocked by this statement and it turned out that they use their own spreadsheets rather than commercially available software such as Voyant or Truth. Again, the IFP is agnostic over which tools are used to perform a cashflow analysis – a financial calculator and a scrap of paper is fine as long as the outcome works.
The IFP has already started to promote the Accredited Firms register through a dedicated marketing budget and this will gain momentum as more firms join. There's also an explicit scheme for those on the register where they have a lower-risk rating for their professional indemnity insurance.
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FP: What has been your greatest source of achievement in running your business and what are you proudest of?
AD: Becoming a Certified Financial Planner^CM professional was my greatest achievement which I took in 2003-4. It was very difficult but rewarding, a real eye-opener for me. A lot of people underestimate it and it is radically different to other traditional exams. Too many people attempt it who aren't doing Financial Planning and find it very hard, luckily I had been already been doing full Financial Planning for about 18 months when I took mine.

FP: You were director of consumer affairs and head of the ethics committee on the IFP Board. What did these involve and what did you achieve in these roles?
AD: Part of consumer affairs involves work on Financial Planning Week but I haven't done that in very much depth recently as the team at Whitefriars has been excellent in dealing with this. The Ethics committee involves work on the Code of Conduct and dealing with any complaints. I was assigned these roles as I didn't have strong views on being on any specific committee, I was just happy to contribute to the Board in any way I could. If you do want to be on a particular committee, of course you can state your preferences.
I don't think in terms of my achievements but rather the Board's and the IFP's achievements. I feel the development of the IFP conference over the years has been an incredible achievement for the IFP; the conference committee do a fabulous job. I can remember the early conferences I attended when I first joined the IFP which were great but almost totally unrecognisable compared to this year's event at the Celtic Manor. One thing that hasn't been lost over the years, even though the conference has grown in size, is the feeling of camaraderie and willingness between delegates to share ideas and further the profession as a whole.
Also, the recognition of the Paraplanning role and the qualification which recognises Paraplanning as a career in itself.

FP: There has been much discussion over the importance of ethics and ethics CPD in Financial Planning, what is your opinion on the matter?
AD: How can you have a business based on trust if you don't have ethics and a clear ethical foundation? Where the confusion may lie is it's not black and white, it's more discussion-based and different shades of grey. Almost everyone will have some opinion on what is ethical and what's not and that's their own opinion. Much of the benefit of ethics CPD is the discussion forum which helps Financial Planners identify ethical issues they hadn't even realised were ethical issues in the first place.

FP: What do you like doing in your spare time outside of work?
AD: I enjoy bombing down mountains, either on skis or on wheels although it tends to be more on a mountain bike nowadays. I also windsurf and play guitar and bass.

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