Quilter Financial Advisers, the restricted arm of Quilter plc, has publicly launched its telephone-based financial advice service to expand the availability of Financial Planning.

The company will offer advice over the phone to customers “who may not otherwise be able to access financial advice.”

The telephone-based team will provide a “full Financial Planning service including advice on mortgages, protection, investment and pensions,” says Quilter.

The company says it means that clients who need advice but do not want, or need, face to face advice can talk to an adviser.

The service was set up earlier this year, with the telephone Financial Planning service now fully operational with five advisers and plans to expand shortly with the recruitment of two more.

The team has six support staff, including Paraplanners, admin backup and appointment makers.

The telephone service already has 2,000 clients, with average customer assets of around £25,000, Quilter said.

The business will focus on customers who prefer a telephone-based service rather than face to face, or who have less than £50,000 in investible assets and been unable to access face to face advice.

QFA focuses on middle income households that need Financial Planning and was created in 2019. It includes the former Charles Derby business and Lighthouse Financial Advice as well as Lighthouse Mortgage and Protection.

Darren Sharkey, managing director Quilter’s national advice business, said: “We know there are millions of people in the UK that would benefit from having financial advice. However, not everyone is able to access face to face advice, perhaps because of where they live, or feel comfortable with the intimacy of a face to face conversation in their home.

“We also know that many advisers are approaching capacity and there is considerably more demand for advice than there are advisers. One of Quilter’s primary goals is to make advice more accessible and with this telephone-based team QFA will have the capacity to help more households receive the advice they need.”