Adviser Blog - Why I believe financial planners should work together

Whilst I'm happy to try absolutely everything once, I appreciate that fact that sometimes, and probably more often that I'd like to admit, I'm not particularly good at certain sports and hobbies.  For example, I'm an   absolutely shocking at football, not flexible enough for gymnastics, haven't got the patience for bird watching and just not too keen on train spotting!  However, I'm quite a good badminton player (not the most masculine sport I admit!), can play chess to quite a high standard and am starting to enjoy running.

In the world of financial planning, I'm a firm believer in the fact that advisers and practices work best by focusing on what they know they are good at and working with a niche, whether this be type of client, specific area of advice, or specific need.  I also believe that financial planners who try to be "all things to all clients" do this at their detriment.  Whilst as financial planners we are happy to work in partnership with Solicitors and Accountants, are we missing out on an opportunity by not connecting with other financial planning firms?

Within our practice, we actively try to work with other financial professionals to ensure our clients receive the service they need, and the most professional advice we can provide using the expertise we have access to, both  using our advisers and external firms we have good relationships with.  The focus for our business isn't being territorial around the client, it's about us ensuring the client receives the most appropriate service possible.

This works for us for a number of reasons.  Firstly we can be assured that the client receives the most appropriate advice and guidance.  Secondly we build close relationships with other advisory firms which provides a range of benefits, including a number of experts who we can use to increase our knowledge, referrals back and forth, and sometimes just someone who understands our business to talk to.

So, I believe working with other financial planning firms is a "no brainer" - Better for clients and Better for the firms involved....however as ever I'm open to your opinion, what do you think?