September 2006

IFAP September 2006

Update Newsletter

We hope you enjoyed the first e-Update and can see the benefits of being able to find information quickly and get involved in IFAP’s activities. You’ll see links throughout this newsletter that allow you to find out more, get involved and, most importantly, to ensure the information we’re providing to potential new business leads about your firm through our ‘Find an IFA’ services is as accurate and advantageous to you as possible.

In the first half of 2006, IFAP handled 312,719 requests for details of local IFAs, a 9% rise on last year and the highest number to date.

Just click through on the links to find out who else is promoting the IFAP ‘Find An IFA’ search, the improvements we’ve made to your company’s profile, what consumers do when they search for an IFA and how to ensure you don’t miss out on potential business leads. There is also news on how to become a media star and the latest PR activity we have carried out to promote the gold standard of independent financial advice!

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.

If you are authorised to amend your IFA details, please refer to the Update Newsletter email in your inbox, and click the “Check your IFA Details” box to review the information IFAP is currently displaying about your firm to enquiring consumers and businesses.

WHAT’S THE LATEST FROM IFAP?

Which? is the best way to find an IFA?

I am very pleased to tell you that the Consumers Association (Which?) has approached IFAP to supply a white label version of our online ‘Find an IFA’ search facility for their website. This really is a fantastic stamp of approval for IFAP and maintains our position as the search tool for finding independent financial advice. In addition, as we know, IFAP continues to provide the most consumer friendly search - which in turn means more consumers getting in touch with the right member IFAs and going forward to do business with those member IFAs.

Chartered and proud? If we know about it then consumers will too...

At IFAP we know that incremental qualifications (additional to Cert FP) are a powerful marketing tool for the independent sector. 71% of UK adults see incremental qualifications as an important factor when choosing a financial adviser.  Therefore we’ve added a Chartered Financial Planner selection option to our core ‘Find an IFA’ search engine, now used by over half a million consumers a year through www.unbiased.co.uk and over 50 other online searches powered by IFAP.  We recognise the benefits of consumer awareness of this important new qualification so if you haven’t yet told us of your chartered status then please update us now by clicking here.   

Making sure consumers invest in the right IFA at your branch

IFAP’s philosophy has always been to help match the right consumer with the right member IFA therefore giving them the best possible chance of going on to do business together.  In support of that we have decided to make investment advisers’ names visible on our consumer facing online search ‘further information’ pages.  This means that those people looking specifically for investment advisers will have the actual names of the investment IFAs that have provided self declaration forms for that particular branch recorded on the IFAP database.

To ensure your name is listed against your branch entry you should provide us with your individual details. This should mean that consumers calling for your investment expertise will be able to ask for you by name, therefore enhancing their experience and giving them greater confidence in your services.

What people using IFAP did next...

We know that over half a million consumers use IFAP to find an IFA every year, and this number is growing, but it’s very important for us and of course you, our members, to know what these enquiries actually lead to. To gain insights into how consumers looking for independent financial advice behave we commission annual research amongst our enquirers via Citigate Dewe Rogerson. The full results of this year’s research can now be viewed here but here are some of the findings:

• Location, location, location – 72% of enquirers still make their decision on which IFA to see depending on where they are based
• The proportion of people who go on to see an IFA is growing – now 59% of Hotline callers and 43% of online enquirers go on to visit an IFA
• You need to make sure your IFAP entry looks as good as possible - 1 in 5 people said they chose which IFA to visit based on the information provided by IFAP
• You also need to make sure your website looks its best as 16% of online enquirers based their decision on the IFA’s website
• Be e-savvy! 70% of online enquirers said being able to contact IFAs electronically is important
• Pensions and mortgages are the hot topics for online enquiries and pensions are also the top for hotline enquirers, followed by mortgages and retirement
• Enquiries mean business! The vast majority (83%) of enquirers took some kind of action after contacting IFA Promotion and 43% went on to buy a financial product

IFAP’s Online Marketing Package 

As I’ve mentioned before (once or twice!), IFAP research shows that the internet is the first port of call for consumers researching financial advice and to underline this over 90% of IFAP enquiries are now dealt with online.  With this in mind it’s encouraging to see that less than two years since launch, already a third of IFAP members have now signed up to our Online Marketing Package (enhancing member IFAs’ individual online search entries and making them stand out to potential new clients).

However the current 10% discount to sign up to the Online Marketing Package ends on the 30th September.  This is important because:

• Consumers are now more than twice as likely to view your IFAP entry if you are signed up to our Online Marketing Package because users of our search can select to be shown only details of relevant local IFAs who also have email and website details displayed
• Nearly 15% of consumers online are now electing only to see IFAs with web and email links
• A new study by independent research agency Ipsos MORI reveals that more than one in four of IFAs’ target market (ABC1 adults) now go online first when looking to find out about financial advice.  For the first time this is more than the proportion who head to their bank or building society
• 92% of our half a million plus IFA enquiries per year now arrive through our range of online ‘Find an IFA searches’, currently running on our own site and 52 high profile consumer-facing websites.   

Therefore if you haven’t yet signed up to our Online Marketing Package you will almost certainly be passing up potential new business leads. Click here to find out more or call the member Hotline on 0870 325 9020.

How much does the Online Marketing Package cost?

For an annual outlay of £249 + VAT you can promote your company details on all IFAP’s online searches.  With the average IFAP case worth £670 (Mercer Oliver Wyman), all you need is one new case from IFAP per year to more than pay for a whole year’s subscription.  Benefits of the package include enhanced display, enabled web and email links, and a call-back facility. Click here for full details.

What are we doing with your money?

IFAP remains a not for profit organisation.  The income IFAP generates from Online Marketing Package subscriptions is channeled back into promoting member IFAs and the IFA brand through our advertising and PR activities. 

Free IFA merchandise

Since we made it easier for you to order free IFA merchandise, over 170 IFA branches have ordered over 3000 items, taking advantage of the opportunity to promote the IFA brand within their offices and on their stationery.  By utlising the IFA blue roundel, you are helping to promote true independence by generating consumer recognition of the IFA brand.

FANCY SEEING YOUR NAME IN PRINT?

IFAP Media Services: are you a potential media star?

Over 240 IFAP members now take part in our Media Services initiatives, providing a unique hub for national and regional media to access informed comment and case studies from member IFAs around the UK.  Already this year our online Find a Media IFA tools and hotline service have fulfilled well over 8,000 journalist enquiries, adding hugely to the positive profile of IFAs in the consumer media.

Independent research by MORI this year shows that IFAP’s Media Services is fully ingrained with personal finance journalists. In fact, two thirds of national personal finance journalists use the Media Services directory that we produce and over half use the online version running on our website (and in the press area of partner websites).  With 44% of personal finance journalists using Media Services at least once a month, don’t you think it’s time you added your support? 

Of course you don’t have to take our word for it, you can see what some of your fellow member IFAs think about the media coverage they receive through IFAP’s Media Services:

Vivienne Starkey, Equal Partners: “IFAP Media Services gives you a voice.  They tell you what the journalists want and you can respond to the requests which most interest you.  The service allows you to build relationships with the national press, radio and television.  Equal Partners is a very small company but, as one journalist put it, we punch above our weight thanks to the IFAP Media Service.”

Ben Yearsley, Hargreaves Lansdown: “We get a lot of value from the IFAP Media Services’ requests for help – we can’t actually quantify how many press mentions we have had on the back of them, but we certainly aren’t complaining! IFAP Media Services often put us into contact with newspapers or journalists we don’t know as well so there is both a short and long term benefit from this as it helps us “get in” with the papers or journalists concerned.”

Patrick Connolly, John Scott and Partners: “I’m aware that the IFAP Media Services Directory is used as a reference document by a significant number of national journalists and so having a presence in the directory has undoubtedly provided us with opportunities for media exposure that we would not otherwise have benefited from.”

Justin Modray, Best Invest: “IFAP Media Services really has helped enhance our coverage. Over the last year alone we have benefited from several television and radio appearances (both BBC and independent), as well as over 20 national press mentions. This has helped us forge new journalist relationships and generally improve our profile in the PR world. I also have no hesitation in referring journalists to IFAP Media Services when I’m unable to help them, safe in the knowledge they’ll be well looked after.”

Our 2006 Media Services directory will be published soon so look out for your opportunity to join, or click here to become a member of the Media Services online directory immediately!

Keeping Independent Financial Advice in the News

IFAP Advice Drivers quarterly report

In the first half of 2006, IFAP handled 312,719 requests for details of local IFAs, a 9% rise on last year and the highest number to date.

IFAP’s Advice Drivers report reveals that retirement planning is the driving force behind this increase in demand for independent financial advice, despite the second quarter of the year being the traditional house-buying season.  The year-on-year appetite for independent retirement planning advice was 40% higher in the second quarter of 2006 compared to the same time in 2005, which suggests A-Day and the surrounding publicity has had a significant impact!

This is the fourth 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 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

To maintain momentum following our best media reception ever to this year’s TaxAction campaign launch, we’ve rolled out yet more stories from this year’s report into wasted tax.

The most recent story focused on UK employees missing out on a staggering £207 million of tax breaks this year, by failing to take advantage of employee share schemes.  The figure represents the amount of tax which could be saved if each of the estimated 600,000 staff currently in a savings related share option scheme invested just half the level of investment permitted under the Government’s Share Incentive Plans (£1,500 each), launched in 2001.

We also released our figures on the 6.2 million non-taxpayers in the UK who could save an average of £51 each – a staggering total of £319 million – by spending just two minutes of their time filling in a the R85 form.

Visit www.taketaxaction.co.uk to find out more about our ongoing PR campaign and how you can get involved.

IFAP Get Saving! campaign update

Our latest Get Saving! campaign story suggested that following the recent decision by the Monetary Policy Committee to increase interest rates by a quarter per cent, consumers should take heed of the potential benefits of an interest rate rise and start saving their money – now! 

The research shows that a massive 72% of UK consumers believe they aren’t saving enough, but out of the people who are in a position to increase the amount they currently save, almost 8 million (18%) claim they enjoy spending their money too much to do so.

Even more revealing is that a staggering 4.8 million people have no gauge on their current financial position, and nearly a third of the adult population (32%) has felt out of control of their finances at some point in their lives.

Get Saving! continues to go down well across a wide range of media, illustrating the benefits of ‘taking financial control’ with the help of an IFA.  Visit www.unbiased.co.uk/getsaving to find out more.

Mortgage IFAs and www.impartial.co.uk

The current ‘mini boom’ in the housing market fits with our own statistics that show mortgages fast becoming one of the most requested areas for independent financial advice via IFAP.  Recent figures from the CML show that first time buyers are now borrowing more than ever before (on average 3.2 times income) so our mortgage research revealing that 71% potential first-time buyers are either completely unaware of other financial products they need to consider to accompany a mortgage is more relevant than ever.

As always, with our research showing that, in practice, 78% of borrowers take out one or more insurance or investment products alongside their mortgage (1.4 products on average), our message is to urge people to seek independent financial advice from a mortgage IFA when buying their homes.

Our next initiative to support our mortgage specific website, www.impartial.co.uk, will focus specifically on these vulnerable first time buyers who are stretching themselves to get a foot on that elusive property ladder.  These research stories will look at a range of topics from teenage aspirations to the proportion of parents helping out their kids.

Visit our dedicated ‘Find a Mortgage IFA’ website at www.impartial.co.uk to find out more about our ongoing campaign. 

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

Dundee: We’ve recently issued aletter to all IFAP members in the circulation area of The Courier advising that the Club’s new campaign for 2006/7 will begin in September.  If you’ve missed this letter and would like to participate please contact IFAP’s Regional Press Officer on the contact details below as soon as possible.

Ipswich: The excellent relationship between IFAP members and The East Anglian Daily Times continues to prosper with features appearing on a monthly basis.  In addition to the regular features the newspaper is now also online and a link has been set up for visitors to the site to contact participating IFAs.  There are still opportunities for a few members to join this successful Club, please contact our Regional Press Officer to find out more.

Guildford: A small team of IFAs continue to publish a monthly feature in the The Surrey Advertiser. In addition to appearing in this well read regional newspaper the IFA’s columns are reproduced two weeks later as a full page in The Rush, a specialist tabloid paper, produced for commuters.

Shropshire: Initial discussions have been held with The Shropshire Star, the area’s main paper.  If any IFAP member in the area would like to consider participating in a Special Feature campaign which is offering excellent value for money please get in touch with our Regional Press Officer.

Bournemouth: Following a successful recruitment exercise a new campaign with The Echo is now being planned.  If IFAP members in the circulation area of its sister paper The Southern Daily Echo in Southampton are interested in working with this paper please contact our Regional Press Officer and a meeting can be arranged.

Aberdeen: This well established Press Club is approaching the end of its current year and now is an ideal time to join ‘The Forum’ Press Club and add your support.  The award winning page that appears in The Press & Journal is published on a bi-monthly basis with additional opportunities for members contribute to the editorial pages of the newspaper.

Members who are unable to participate in Press Club activity but would like to contribute to their local papers with articles and information are reminded that the www.unbiased.co.uk website contains details of all IFAP fact sheets, articles, press releases and research material within media resources.

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

Recent & forthcoming Press Club meetings

• September 26th Liverpool & N. Wales
• September 28th Leicester
• October 2nd Guildford
• October 2nd Portsmouth
• October 4th Glasgow