Financial planners should look to legal firms to increase business

Financial planners should look to establish relationships with legal firms as a way of increasing their business, according to Tom Graham, principal of Capita Financial Services and a representative of Charter Financial Planning.

People’s expectations of financial planners are rising, and they will increasingly ask financial planners what other services they can offer in terms of financial advice, Graham said.

Financial planning is becoming increasingly specialised, and the industry needs to create a “one-stop-shop” of financial planners, accountants and solicitors for clients, Graham said.

At its core, financial planning is about wealth protection, he said, and wealth protection should include issues that lawyers deal with such as divorce settlements, sudden deaths, including the death of an income provider, third party insurance claims and property sales.

Financial planning is slowly moving in that direction, Graham said.

Kevin White, managing director of WHK Group, which manages 20 accountancy firms and financial planning divisions, said at the end of the day, financial planners are looking for client referrals, and it didn’t matter whether they got client referrals from accountants or lawyers.

“I’m aware that on an individual basis, financial planners have close relationships with lawyers, [and] that’s an ongoing part of business,” White said.