Shorter SOAs for RetireInvest advisers

RetireInvest has updated the statement of advice (SOA) templates used by advisers, reducing documents to around 30 pages.

George Haramis, general manager, said: “You’ve seen all the stories — advisers getting caught up with 90 to 100 page SOAs.

“It inhibits how they deal with clients, so we’ve actually reviewed our SOA templates and made them far more efficient.

“They are a lot shorter, smarter and allow people to get on with business at the same time as clearly meeting the requirements of the regulators.”

‘Project Compliance’, the internal review of all RetireInvest policies, has been headed up by national manager for compliance and professional standards Simon Micallef.

Additional tools and professional standards were launched at the group’s recent professional development days.

The objectives of the review were two-fold - to enhance the overall compliance regime at RetireInvest as well as the sales process and client experience.

Micallef said: “These new tools allow the advice to be tailored more specifically at the initial meeting, which makes it easier for advisers to do business and ultimately improves the customer experience.”

RetireInvest has also brought its auditing process back in-house, where previously this function had been outsourced to Tribeca.

Haramis said: “We now have greater control, authority and understanding of what is required by the network.”