Adviser spotlight – Richard Hopkins of Blackstone Moregate

by | Aug 30, 2017

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In this popular monthly feature, IFA Magazine talks to leading advisers about what’s working well for them. This month, Sue Whitbread talks to Richard Hopkins, of London-based Blackstone Moregate, about the development of his innovative financial planning business.

Richard, can you talk us through how your business has grown over the past 16 years or so?

 
 

RH. We started out as a small firm back in 2001 as just a two-man-band, before merging with the financial services company of an accountancy firm. After the merger we grew through hard work, blood, sweat and tears to a point where we were in a position to acquire other businesses. We then bought 3 companies in fairly quick succession – a major undertaking. Although it doubled the size of our business, there was a lot of hard work integrating and overlaying our systems and processes so we could move a paper-based firm into a 21st century, cloud-based firm. We also realised the power and benefits of creating an overseas support infrastructure and so now have eight staff working from India for us. This has enabled us to ensure we can meet all our clients’ and business needs – from valuations to fee reconciliation.

What is your role within the business and how does the team work together?

RH. I am one of the directors and have both an advisory and business management function although in 2013, my co-director, Vijay Thakkar moved away from the advice role to one of running the business and this has been very effective.

 
 

Team work is essential and good communication across all areas in the business is crucial. Our self- customised CRM is central to that so that advisers, paraplanners, admin or India are all aware at what is happening and who is doing what. Everyone has a key role to play and the business wouldn’t work without communicating across all our sub-teams. We very much have the approach of giving our clients more than one access point to the business, so they will know exactly who they need to speak to, depending on their enquiry.

What’s your “why” when it comes to running a financial planning business? What are the bits you enjoy most and find most fulfilling? What about those areas you find more of a challenge?

RH. Our passion is true, holistic financial planning and the buzz comes from seeing a client achieve their life’s financial ambitions. There is nothing more satisfying than a client deciding they can retire early or can fly first class as a direct result of our advice and planning. I enjoy the dynamics of the financial planning world. We are constantly evolving, both in how we work with our clients and develop the business. Most of all I enjoy the people we work with, be it our colleagues or our clients.

 
 

I find the biggest challenge is finding the right people to work with and for the organisation. This is not simply about qualifications or experience, but personality traits such as being able to think outside the box, having an enquiring mind and always looking at ways to improve. We have had to make our recruitment process fairly rigorous to include testing, live case study and role play, to make sure that not only we get the right people but that they share our values.

When it comes to investment strategy, how does the business operate?

RH. As a result of years of experience we have designed an in-sourced investment proposition which we believe works best for us. Working with a number of leading platforms, we offer risk-rated model portfolios which are managed on our behalf by a DFM working closely with us in terms our key metrics around performance and volatility. This ensures we retain control, as we can replace the DFM at any time if we feel our key measures are not being met, without disturbing the clients’ portfolios. Typically these portfolios will have a 50/50 split between active and passive funds, however this will vary depending on the cost of risk. We do have a price cap of 0.6% p.a. for the cost of entire underlying fund holdings.

Do you have a clear profile of the types of clients you want to work with? How do you find new clients?

RH. Our client profile is driven more by the services and fees we charge. If someone will genuinely benefit from what we offer, can see it will add value and as such are prepared to pay our fees as a result, then they will become clients. We do very little marketing and get most of our clients from our website or from client and professional referrals.

Financial planning is all about people but technology plays a big part behind the scenes. What systems do you use within the firm and how well do they work together?

We are very much a technology-focused advisory firm and use tech wherever we think it can make a real difference and help to make our business more streamlined. We feel that much of the traditional software is loaded with bolt-ons that we wouldn’t use or that don’t suit our purpose, so we have built our own CRM using Microsoft Dynamics. This has ensured that workflow and communication in the firm is effective but also fully auditable.

How do you co-ordinate your strategic planning, ensuring you can innovate and continue to build best practice as the business is growing?

RH. We do this through our regular director meetings and then involve staff at our monthly team meetings to give their input to make sure we can fine-tune things before rolling out any new processes or procedures.

What are your plans to grow the business in future? 

RH. Having acquired three businesses over the last ten years, we have been going through a period of consolidation, re-organisation and bedding down our future proof systems. For now, our plans are around organic growth as the right opportunities arises. Our more pro-active growth plans focus on the defined benefit pension transfer market, as this is a specialist niche of ours.

Do you have a co-ordinated exit strategy plan in place? 

RH. Not at present, in the sense that we are focusing on fine- tuning the business infrastructure and continuing to build the company. This is a project for the future though.

Work aside, what do you like to do in your spare time?

RH. What spare time I have is very much focused around my two young children and my wife. If anything is left after that, then I enjoy running! When we have a day off, I love a trip to a National Trust property or the theatre.

Richard’s top tips for business success are:

  • The people who you surround yourself with are the key to driving success, particularly if they have a good mix of complementary skill sets. Get that right and then everyone benefits.
  • Use technology effectively to improve processes and systems. The future of financial planning will be increasingly automated, making businesses more streamlined and cost effective. This will be key when margins start being squeezed.
  • Constantly reflect on how you work and identify areas for improvement. Ask your clients for their input. As advisers, we sometimes get caught up in implementing something we think is required but may not be. This might save a lot of time and money too.

About Richard Hopkins

Richard is a founding director of Blackstone Moregate and has considerable experience in financial services. In addition to having chartered status, he is also a qualified member of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) and an accredited member of Resolution (specialists in pensions and divorce). Richard also has good working relationships with accountants and solicitors and is often invited to speak at professional conferences. He believes in providing a holistic, professional and highly personalised service to help ensure his clients meet their financial objectives.

 

 

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