Adviser spotlight – Marlene Outrim, UNIQ Family Wealth

by | Jan 24, 2017

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In this popular monthly feature, IFA Magazine talks to leading advisers about what’s working well in their financial planning businesses. This month we talk to Marlene Outrim, Managing Director of UNIQ Family Wealth, a financial planning business which is focused on helping clients to plan for and achieve a life well lived.

  1. How did you originally get into financial planning?

Actually, my first career was as a probation officer which I did for 13 years. I thoroughly enjoyed it as it tested me in all sorts of ways. I was quite young when I started, but the training was exceptional. As well as dealing with people who had committed criminal offences, I also specialised as a divorce court welfare officer and as a mediator in the conciliation service for separating and divorced couples. I confess that quite a few people were initially surprised at my change of career to become a financial adviser back in the day. However, the personal and counselling skills I learned from being a probation officer have stood me in good stead with my clients, and one of the reasons I believe I have been successful. Prior to becoming a probation officer, I obtained some accountancy qualifications so these, coupled with other transferrable skills, meant I was really destined for financial planning, when I got into financial services. That particular way of working really suits me.

  1. UNIQ is still a relatively young business. What are the main principles on which you set up the business initially and how do you run it now? Also, could you share your vision for the future of the business with us and for the service you deliver to clients?

Yes, it is still relatively young; just 3 years and a bit, but I always say it is in old hands. The purpose behind UNIQ is having a life well lived. It is not just about the money, although it helps, but unless you have good health and really try to get the most out of your life, what’s the point of having all that wealth? We want to help our clients and their families from the cradle to the grave, so apart from financial planning and wealth management, we can assist with broader support in areas such as wills, trusts and powers of attorney.

 
 

We have already won a number of awards and obtained BS8577, the standard for financial planning firms through Standards International and are a CISI Accredited Financial Planning Firm. We have been shortlisted in the 2016 Unbiased awards (2 categories) and in the Professional Adviser Awards.

We run very much on a team based approach. As I focus more on the business, I need younger, clever and enthusiastic people working with me and working to their strengths. This frees me up to work on bigger projects and I have learnt to delegate as much as possible to the team. However, it has not been easy appointing and retaining the right people.

Our vision for the company is to become one of the most recommended practices in South Wales and the West in the “planning for financial independence” space. Our plans include expanding from where we are now, so we have greater longevity for the business, our employees and our clients. My daughter, Laura Janes, has just joined the Board and although she is also working on her own marketing consultancy, she is going to learn the ropes, so that at some stage she can take over at the helm. At UNIQ  we believe in family values, being supportive to one another and our clients and helping them in a way that they can then pass on help and guidance to their family members too. But we also want to have enjoyable times along the way, so we organise events for ourselves and our development as well as for our clients.

 
 

We have just started our own online investment service called UNIQinvest, but this has been set up primarily for children of clients who would not, at this stage of their lives, want our full blown financial planning service. We do however, provide education in terms of our Generation Next, workshops for clients’ children and encourage them to  get started on their own financial plans. Each year we spend time during the “my money week” campaign, educating youngsters on the need to save and the dilemmas that money – or lack of it – can bring. It is hugely enjoyable, but hard work especially as Gemma Williams, our financial planning director had to do it single handed, last year.

All our clients also receive one of our penny pigs. We get great feedback on the number of ways the money has been used from saving in them, ranging from making gifts to grandchildren, payment of school trips and donations to charity.

  1. Are you planning any major changes to the business for 2017?

Yes, we are working on an acquisition at the moment, which I am really excited about. That is about as much as I can say on that for now. We are also putting together a grand marketing strategy with the direction of Laura, which will include a powerful video and city advertising. I am also in the process of writing a book about retirement, but this will be different from the financially led ones, so watch this space.

 
 
  1. How important is having a team approach in working towards your vision? Where does paraplanning fit in?

I have always been a great believer in having very distinct roles for the team. Paraplanners for example, carry out research and analysis, must have excellent technical knowledge and ability, and put together cashflow forecasts and reports. Professional support carry out all the administrative duties, making appointments, meeting and greeting clients, requesting information, valuations etc. Planners should do all the client work and sign off everything else. Recently, I had to see a client who had previously been looked after by someone who had left the business. The team ensured that the cashflow was up to date and that I had all the information and documentation necessary to conduct the initial meeting where I was able to focus on the client and his needs and not worry about the paperwork at all.

  1. When it comes to investment strategy and portfolio management, what’s your approach?

We out-source our investment management service using J M Finn. This relationship has worked very well to date and frees up the planners to be able to concentrate on what they are good at, which is doing the actual planning with and for our clients. Personally, I have never had any ambitions to be a quasi-investment manager. As a planner, of course we have to understand how investments operate, but investment management is a completely different role which requires separate skills, qualifications and experience, as well as time.

  1. What are your main business challenges at present?

That’s easy. It’s recruiting the right staff. We would like to take on another financial planner but they seem to be few and far between, especially in the South Wales area.

  1. Marketing is an area which many advisory firms find challenging. What’s your approach?

As I mentioned earlier, I have been very fortunate in that my daughter, Laura is a very experienced marketer and has been in financial services all her working life. Over the last year, she has provided us with some very useful guidance and tips. Those led to us winning the Professional Adviser award for best UK Client Engagement in 2016. Now that she has left her corporate role, I’m excited that she will be able to give us even more direction and support going forward.

  1. For you personally, what are the best bits about being a financial planner? Which are the bits you like least?

To me, financial planning is all about personal engagement with a client and having a genuine interest in their goals, their ambitions and their family. The relationship is everything, but you must also be good at your job, knowing and understanding clearly the advice being given. Achieving that balance is important to me, so I not only want to get on well with my clients, but I really want to help them and gain their respect for what we can offer. Being creative and empowering others is very satisfying and that’s what I enjoy most. However, I do enjoy the entrepreneurship side of my personality and giving that some space. There is not much that I dislike, because I will only work with those who are committed to obtaining success with their plans and who want to work with me.

  1. Connecting with consumers is key but what do you think needs to happen for advisers and the industry to engage the public more effectively about the importance of getting professional financial planning advice?

That old chestnut!  I wish I knew the answer to this. We grappled with it in the IFP and back I the days when I was IFP President. The annual Financial Planning Week campaign now organised by the CISI helps, but to really have some teeth, it needs the Regulator to give financial planning some recognition, but as it is not a product, there does not seem to be the interest, even though true financial planning invariably leads to best advice of products. The CISI which took over the IFP does need to do more too. So far it has been busy consolidating the IFP business, but now I think it needs to be more active in this area.

  1. Outside of work, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I attend three dance classes a week as well as yoga. Then there is the art gallery I own with my husband, Off the Wall, which takes up time in curating the art, press, media and new shows. To support this, I go to art fairs and galleries when I can. My family are very important to me and my grandchildren are the biggest source of happiness and enjoyment.  I never imagined I would feel so grand-maternal. I always enjoy socialising, so sitting down with friends and family for a good meal and plenty of wine is routinely on the agenda. There will always be music too, whether classical, opera, pop, rock or soul.

My three tips for business success are :

  • Be crystal clear about the vision for your business and your “why”. Always keep asking why you are doing it, until you come up with an acceptable answer.
  • Recruit the best people you can, encourage them to work within their unique ability and engage them with your plans.
  • Walk the walk and talk the talk. So many advisers call themselves planners, yet they do not have a financial plan themselves, but somehow they think they can tell others how to plan. For a life well lived, for me it is important that I also show the balance between health, wealth and happiness, not just lecture others about it.

About Marlene

Marlene Outrim is Managing Director of UNIQ Family Wealth, a financial planning business she set up in July 2013. Following her 13 year career as a probation officer, Marlene ran her first financial planning business Chambers Morgan James from 1991-2007. The business was ultimately sold to Bluefin in 2007, where she then worked as a financial planner.  Marlene was formerly a board member of the IFP, and was its President between 2010 and 2012.

 

 

 

 

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