"That was the starting point and we went down the funnel from there. We wanted it to have a good ESG offering, we wanted it to be tech enabled.
"We decided to outsource our investment proposition to the Timeline portfolios. The two main reasons were we believe in taking an evidence-based approach to investing so Timeline’s investment philosophy fits with that, and the portfolios are incredibly low cost which has a major impact on long-term returns.
"We thought about how we would want a business to look if we were clients ourselves.
"A lot of advisers have told us we’re leaving a lot of cash on the table, we could be making a lot more profit on the old model. But the folks who don’t think it will work are the people who say we need to bridge the advice gap.
"That sounds like the gap in the market and it sounds like the reason financial advice has a bad name is because it is not transparent and people charge unnecessary fees.
"One of the biggest risks to businesses is overspending and by using tech we have reduced costs on our side. We don’t have a big London office, we don’t have staff. We’re trying to be efficient.
"At the moment our clients have been a real mixture. A lot of family friends. We have done it quite organically. Some good professional connections, creating those relationships with accountants, lawyers, people who like what we’re doing. We’re trying to do a lot on social media.
"We haven't brought any clients with us so we are starting from zero.
"Historically you’d deal with people in a set area but this week alone we have taken on clients from Bristol, Norwich, all over the shop. We want to embrace that and help as many people as we can do.
"Going quickly through the authorisation process was one of the massive benefits for us of using a network. Sense have been fantastic in streamlining that process. Sitting down in front of clients is what we’re used to. The business owner hat is something we’ve never done before so we’ve had to grow.
"Having the network there to help with compliance and any problems with the FCA. If we had gone directly authorised from the start it would have been incredibly hard. There are costs involved in joining a network but for us its an investment. I hear horror stories about it taking six months to a year to get a response if they are going directly authorised.
