December 2006

IFAP December 2006 Update e-newsletter

Welcome to the final 2006 edition of IFAP's Update newsletter. We hope you are enjoying the e-Updates and can see the advantages in being able to find information quickly, enabling you to get involved in more of IFAP's activities. You'll see links throughout this newsletter that allow you to find out more, get involved and, most importantly, to ensure that the information we're providing to consumers about your firm through our ‘Find an IFA' services is as accurate as possible.

In 2006 IFAP handled a staggering 600,000 requests for details of local IFAs, a 13% rise on last year. To make sure your firm benefits as much as possible from this huge volume of referrals please make sure your database entry is up to date and accurate. If you are authorised to amend your IFA details please click the link from your email.

Just click through on the links on the right hand side to find out news on who our latest new sponsor is, who else is promoting the IFAP ‘Find an IFA' search, the refinements we've made to our consumer search and how the Media Services Directory has been updated. There is also news on how much IFAP's membership has increased since depolarisation and the increase in IFAs now holding incremental qualifications / designations.

We're currently interested in finding out which wrap platforms member IFAs currently use. Therefore please can you tell us which wrap platforms you are using (if any) by clicking the link the relevant link from your Update email. We're always looking for new ways to enhance our consumer 'Find an IFA' search and by analysing your responses we can better assess whether allowing enquirers to select member IFAs on this basis would be a useful way for us to develop our service.

Please direct anyone else in your organisation who would like to sign-up to receive future copies of our Update newsletter in their inbox to supply their email at www.unbiased.co.uk/email

IFA Promotion News

A new sponsor
We're delighted to start IFAP's 2006/07 financial year by announcing that Alliance Trust has become IFAP's latest sponsor Alliance Trust is a provider of SIPP, SSAS and investment products and is owned by the UK's largest generalist investment trust company.

Along with IFAP's other 30 product provider sponsors, Alliance Trust is now able to benefit from our range of white label and other online tools, and their sponsorship illustrates strong continuing support both for the IFA sector and the concept of promoting the benefits of independent financial advice to UK consumers.

You can view a full list of IFAP's current sponsors, now spanning the life, pension, investment, mortgage, healthcare, commercial, technology and fund analysis sectors by clicking here www.unbiased.co.uk/about-us/About-IFAP/IFAP-sponsors/

Please remember, next time you receive a lead from IFAP - or you see positive coverage in the consumer media as a result of IFAP's proactive PR campaigns, reactive media commentary from IFAP Media IFAs or advertorial/editorial placed by IFAP Regional Press Clubs - these organisations continuing support has helped IFAP to make this happen on your behalf.

New IFAP ‘Find an IFA' white label deals hit the web
When it comes to initial research (as distinct from the sales process), the online revolution has already taken place And IFAP's user friendly ‘Find an IFA' services are demonstrably part of the research process not the sales process.

Therefore people looking for financial advice, who have broadband capability either at home or work, are now more likely to turn to the internet to search for local services than a paper based directory In fact, according to Ipsos MORI (2006), more people now turn to the web when researching their financial advice options than (in the first instance) go to their bank or building society

Given this, IFAP's priority is to dominate this online space wherever possible - whether it be through paid for search or natural optimisation of www.unbiased.co.uk across all UK search engines, developing more white label versions of IFAP's online ‘Find an IFA' service on partner websites or by IFAP placing online content (editorial, tools, microsites) in the personal finance channels of partner websites and portals

To this end we've continued to grow the white labelling programme of our ‘Find an IFA' search and have recently completed builds for:

• www.thesun.co.uk
• www.aol.com
• www.reita.org
• www.financedaily.co.uk

This takes the number of partner websites carrying white label versions of IFAP's ‘Find an IFA' service to 53, giving consumers and businesses even more opportunities to access to your details. To view a full list of partner websites currently carrying white label versions of IFAP's ‘Find an IFA' service click here- if you've subscribed to IFAP's Online Marketing Package (and a third of you already have, click hereto find out more) - all these sites will be displaying your enhanced IFAP entry, including your own e-mail and web address.

As well as its extensive white labelling programme, IFAP is also running an online ad campaign on a pay per click basis and is currently buying around 6,000 search terms which are running across all key UK search engines These online campaigns, running on your behalf, ensure our ‘Find an IFA' tools rank highly on all UK paid for and natural search results - supported by additional online banner ads, and of course online placed editorial - mean your service is being promoted very prominently via www.unbiased.co.uk

But all this is not enough It's all very well IFAP promoting your details in this way but you have to be certain that when a new enquirer emails you, contacts you via your website, phones your office or walks in through your front door you know for sure how they found your details.

If the lead didn't come from a personal referral, the chances are the new enquirer found your contact details through the web And given that www.unbiased.co.uk and the 53 white label versions of the service IFAP's running on partner websites are plumbing your contact details in to the web - there's a high probability they researched your address, your phone number, your e-mail address or your web address through IFAP But be aware, you may have to ask quite detailed questions of your new client to elicit this fact.

Competition in conjunction with The Sun - Get Britain Saving campaign
We were delighted to team up with The Sun newspaper this month to launch their Get Britain Saving campaign As part of this we ran a joint promotion both in the paper and on the money channel of the Sun's website to raise awareness of the UK's savings brake and also generate case studies for the Sun's campaign

Entrants totalled 6,408, with almost half opting to be sent details of local IFAs Some of IFAP's Media IFAs will be shadowing the chosen case studies over the forthcoming weeks to help them get into the savings habit in time for 2007.

The Sun now carries a white label of our ‘Find an IFA' tool on the money channel of its website and has also flagged this service on the site's home page The campaign will run into the New Year so watch this space.

IMPORTANT - Reminder to complete your annual Self Declaration form
It's time for you to submit your annual Self Declaration forms confirming to IFAP the names of the Investment IFAs at your branch and their individual FSA numbers

As you probably know, we undertake this activity once a year to ensure we are only putting ‘independent' financial advisers in front of consumers via our ‘Find an IFA' searches We also require you to tell us that you offer whole of market advice and a fee option for mortgage, protection and insurance advice.

We insist that all our members offer whole of market advice and a fees option We believe this to be the only way to ensure an enquirer fully understands the type of adviser we will be supplying details of, helping to avoid unnecessary consumer confusion and to protect IFAP's and the IFAs' brands.

As we've previously stated, failure to return a Self Declaration form may result in your permanent removal from the IFAP database which would mean you no longer receive referrals from us It would also mean that you are no longer authorised to use the IFA pound sign roundel logo on any of your marketing material or take part in IFAP's Media Services for journalists or regional Press Clubs.

Christmas Wrap-ping
We're currently interested in finding out which wrap platforms member IFAs currently use. Therefore please can you tell us which wrap platforms you are using (if any) by clicking the relevant link from your Update email. We're always looking for new ways to enhance our consumer ‘Find an IFA' search and by analysing your responses we can better assess whether allowing enquirers to select member IFAs on this basis would be a useful way for us to develop our service.

Another year and a brand new ‘Blue Book'

By the time you receive this Update newsletter the new edition of IFAP's published Media Services directory, affectionately known as the blue book will have hit the desks of over 1,000 media professionals including editors, journalists and content managers, across national, regional, trade, online and broadcast media IFAP's Media Services promotes partaking IFAs as the best placed spokespeople for informed comment and case studies

As you may know, over 220 media-savvy IFAP members now take part in our Media Services initiatives and the 2006 MORI poll revealed that over 80% of personal finance and trade journalists now use IFAP Media Services to source informed comment and case studies, with over 40% doing so at least once per month.

We also promote Media Services via www.unbiased.co.uk, which received over 10,000 inquiries from journalists in the last 12 months, as well as via white label versions of our ‘Find a Media IFA' service which currently run in the press areas of other trade body and product provider sites - click here to view a full list of these sites.

Calls to our Media Services Hotline also result in opportunities for media comment, which media IFAs will frequently see emailed to them For example, in the first two weeks of November we forwarded opportunities to comment from Sky News, BBC News 24, The Times, Radio 4's Moneybox and the Investors' Chronicle Naturally your prompt responses to these enquiries foster a strong working relationship with journalists for yourselves and for our ongoing service at IFAP.

If you have signed up to be a Media Services IFA you will notice that your individual profile details whether you employ a female IFA, your fee structure, and your case study or broadcast experience These distinctions are designed to improve the quality of the media leads we generate for you.

State of the IFA Nation - IFA sector enters brave new world

The IFA sector is constantly evolving and analysis of IFAP's membership database has enabled us to create a ‘State of the IFA Nation' report This research offers a complete look at how the IFA community is changing and provides a record of just how robust the sector now is.

Since depolarisation last year, there has been a notable change in the make up of the IFA community, not least significant growth In fact, the number of IFA firms has increased by almost 10% since ‘D-day', a clear indication the independent sector is more robust than ever The full report can be viewed here but here is a snapshot of the findings:

• IFAP members have really embraced the online revolution - 63% of IFAs now have a website compared to just over half (54%) who did so 12 months ago
• The gender divide is slowly narrowing - over a quarter of firms (27%) now have a female IFA and over the last year there has been a 15% increase in women-only firms
• So far this year, 16% of consumers looking for an IFA have stipulated that they want a ‘Fees only' IFA
• Incremental qualifications/designations are gaining popularity - 52% of member firms now have IFAs with incremental qualifications/designations, and the 17,200 Registered Individuals on the www.unbiased.co.uk database currently hold over 20,000 verified incremental qualifications/designations between them
  • Over 5,343 IFAs (60% of members) hold a mortgage qualification, 26% up on last year
  • Over half of IFAs (52%) currently hold incremental pensions qualifications This is a 57% increase on last year
  • However, new areas of specialism and changing consumer demand have also led to IFAs seeking new qualifications There has been a staggering 231% increase in IFAs holding qualifications in Long Term Care, and a 160% increase in IFAs qualified to give advice on tax planning
• But don't just take our word for the importance of achieving qualifications above the benchmark - 25% (a quarter) of all enquirers are now specifying they want an IFA holding incremental qualifications/designations as part of their search criteria when using IFAP to find a local IFA.

Keeping Independent Financial Advice in the news

IFAP Advice Drivers quarterly report
In the third quarter of 2006, IFAP handled 138,157 requests for details of local IFAs, a 13% rise on last year and the highest Q3 number to date.

IFAP's report showed that retirement advice remained the most popular consumer enquiry throughout July to September, reflecting that even six months after A-Day there is still a thriving demand for independent financial advice.

This is the fifth of our Advice Drivers reports, compiled from the comprehensive data on the selections people make when requesting a local IFA via IFAP Considering that the search for advice via IFAP is the first link in a chain which ends in specific product sales we recommend you keep an eye on our monthly Advice Drivers update chart, which we post here on our website every month

IFAP TaxAction 2006 update
We have continued to roll out stories from the 2006 TaxAction campaign; the latest was on IHT and highlighted how UK adults will waste a massive £1.3 billion through poor inheritance tax planning this year.

The greatest tax wastage results from a simple lack of IHT planning within personal estates. This waste has been quantified at around £1,184m this year alone.

We still have a couple of stories remaining before we kick off our 2007 TaxAction campaign in February These look at tax wastage, such as poor self assessment planning and insufficient use of tax friendly savings vehicles Please visit www.unbiased.co.uk/taketaxaction to find out more about our ongoing PR campaign and how you can get involved.

IFAP Get Saving! campaign update - New Year's Resolutions
It may still be a few weeks away until Christmas, but the media is already writing up their festive stories IFAP has just released its annual New Year's resolutions figures which show that nearly two-fifths of the British adult population (38%) are already planning to embark upon 2007 with a New Year's resolution in mind, and over a fifth (21%) - 8.9 million people - are likely to be confronting their finances.

However, if last year's behaviour is anything to go by, these consumers won't be sticking to their resolutions for nearly long enough to guarantee any change to their lives. Indeed, IFAP's research reveals that last year, over half of people who made a resolution (52%) broke their promise before six months was up, and almost 2.2 million lost their resolve in less than a day!

We shall re-issue these statistics in between Christmas and New Year in order to demonstrate the importance of seeking independent financial advice at the start of 2007 and will also be issuing press releases tailored to each region.

Promoting gold standard mortgage advice
With interest rates rising again and house prices continuing to increase, first time buyers are still struggling to get that all important first step on the ladder Our latest initiative has focused on this vulnerable group and shown that:

49% of non-homeowning UK adults say they can't afford to get onto the property ladder, and worryingly, 8 in 10 of people hoping to make their way onto the property ladder admitted to knowing “little or nothing” about mortgages These statistics alone display the pressing need for first time buyers to seek independent financial advice

Further research has revealed that almost four million parents (38%) across Britain have either stumped up cash to help their children with a property purchase or intend to do so in the future. A quarter (25%) of these parents are contributing between £1,000 and £6,000, however 13% provide at least a whopping £20,000 in financial support It is clear that parents also need to seek advice before making substantial financial commitments.

The reason for this focus was to reinforce the importance of seeking independent financial advice - both for potential first time buyers but also the parents who may be tapping into their savings to raise a deposit.

Press Clubs report

IFAP’s regional Press Clubs work with local media, forging strong relationships with regional newspapers to help promote independent advice and local IFAs.

IFAP members who have not read about or experienced the benefits of belonging to a Press Club, should read our guide - “The essential guide to raising your IFA business profile with local media” – download a copy now.

News From Around the Country

Portsmouth:The Press Club has recently re-formed and continues to prosper, with several new members having joined since the Club published its first page in June. This Press Club enjoys an excellent relationship with its local paper, The News, and members are currently considering a new service launched by the paper which will provide members with an additional way of using the Press Club page by linking it to the paper's website and providing readers with a link to members own sites.

Midlands: Discussions have recently been held with Archant who are the publishers of “County” style magazines in Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Birmingham, Worcester, Shropshire & Herefordshire. During 2007 an opportunity will arise for a small number of local IFAs to provide a regular column dedicated to the IFA sector in one of the regional titles. If you are interested in this idea, which will offer excellent value for money, please contact IFAP's Regional Press Officer on the contact details below.

Cambridge: A letter was recently sent to all members based in and around the circulation areas of the Cambridge Evening News. If you missed this opportunity to join the proposed Press Club, working in conjunction with the paper, and would like to find out more please contact the Regional Press Officer.

Leicester: This well established Press Club is proud to boast that it has produced a monthly feature page in The Leicester Mercury for nearly ten years. Members are currently planning their December page, which has for the past three years been situated on the back page of the Christmas TV & Radio section. As you can imagine, this provides an excellent platform. The Press Club has already started to consider their campaign for 2007 and any interested IFAs who would like to find out more are asked to get in touch with the Regional Press Officer.

Scotland: Members have again supported the popular campaign with the Scottish Daily Mail, which provides members in Scotland the opportunity to participate in a 12 week initiative promoting the benefits of independent financial advice, as well as providing a directory of participating members. Those members who missed the opportunity on this occasion will have a further chance to get involved in the New Year when it is proposed to repeat the campaign.

Press Club members are reminded that by visiting the www.unbiased.co.uk website they can find a new batch of snippets and ‘news in brief' together with a number of pre written articles which, when combined with the information contained in press releases, fact sheets and booklets, will provide the basis for many quality articles.

For information about any of the above please contact IFAP Regional Press Officer James Sharp Tel 01902 850053 or email james@ifap.org.uk

Recent and forthcoming Press Club meetings

• November 14th Leicester
• November 20th Newcastle upon Tyne
• November 21st Edinburgh
• November 22nd Tayside & Fife, Dundee
• November 23rd Aberdeen Forum AGM & Press Club meeting.
• December 1st Suffolk, Ipswich
• December 13th Bournemouth
• December 14th South East Hampshire, Portsmouth
• January 9th Surrey, Guildford
• January 16th Liverpool & North Wales.
• January 24th Glasgow