Advisers wanting to set up and grow their own practices must first understand the culture and values they want to embody - the 'why' of any company - an advisory chief executive has said.
Veteran adviser Peter McGahan, chief executive of Worldwide Financial Planning, said while the size of a firm often is used as a benchmark of the company's quality, it is far from the truth.
"Experience and sound judgement are more important than mere size; clients should look at that," he told FT Adviser.
"The starting point of any business is always the ‘why’. That 'why' runs through an organisation like a stick of rock in everything they do. Every so often we need to realign to that as there can be drift.
"The 'why' is the culture, the values, and that can be described by ‘what do you do when no-one is looking’."
He added when the ‘why' is shining, advice businesses "will repel those who don't understand the meaning of the values and those who aspire to those will be magnetised toward you".
For McGahan, having the right people and processes in place is also vital.
He explained: "That's why we further broadened our capabilities a few years ago with the appointment of Martyn Page, who has more than 25 years of experience in investment research.
"In the end, a 1 per cent difference in a fund either through performance, charges or unnecessary risk taking over 20 years is a staggering 55 per cent of the initial investment.
"That is where the investment and focus of an IFA will offer the big differences in value, security and peace of mind to a customer."
Top 100
His comments come as FT Adviser published its Top 100 Advisers, which while it sets an initial threshold based on gross new sales, weights other factors highly to create the overall ranking.
As a spokesperson for ISS Market Intelligence explained, the rankings are created through applying a variety of metrics, “which means size alone isn’t enough to guarantee a spot”.
For example, the FT Adviser team examined things such as whether the business had been given a charter by an accrediting body, as well as when the company was founded.
Length of service and professionalism in terms of individual and corporate charters are scored highly.
This year, the average longevity for firms in the Top 100 was 43 years, while 19 out of the top 20 firms were chartered or accredited.
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com
