It should not be unusual to give good service, but sadly, in the financial services industry today, it often is. We work hard to constantly improve our standards in this area in order to buck this trend.
Our track record speaks for itself. One of the most prestigious awards in the UK is the Financial Adviser/AIFA (Association of Independent Financial Advisers) Five Star Service Awards. This is a professional assessment where financial advisers vote for the life, pension and investment companies that provide the best service.
Since their inception Skandia International, part of the Wealth Management business of Old Mutual plc, the international group of companies which provide the offshore and cross-border investment solutions for the Old Mutual Group, have won more awards than any other provider; recognition of the central place service has here.
But this doesn’t mean that we are complacent. We promote a passion for customers across the organisation and we strive to not only provide the service expected by our customers but also to offer value, to get our work right first time, and to continuously seek improvement.
One of the ways we are doing this is through the adoption of our customer principles, currently being implemented throughout the organisation. We are constantly working to improve the products and services that we deliver and we are committed to continually raising the bar on our service standards.
Product design
Know the target market
We identify the characteristics of customers who are likely to be recommended any new product.
Understandable products
We design new products so that they can be fully understood by intermediaries recommending them and by customers in the target market.
Sales and marketing
Clear and balanced promotions
Our promotional material provides a well balanced message, using plain language that is suitable for the target market.
Product servicing
Meet customers’ service needs
We understand our customers and provide them with services that meet their needs, and ensure the service is in accordance with the contract and promotional material we have issued them.
Provide appropriate product information
We ensure customers are given appropriate, and balanced, information on their products to enable them (with advice if necessary): to plan adequately for the future; to consider taking up any options within the product; and to review the product if external factors change.
Fair business decisions
We balance fairly the interests of customers, intermediaries and ourselves when making decisions relating to product servicing. This applies to both discretionary decisions within the product terms and day-to-day business decisions.
Fair responses to requests and complaints
We consider fully customers’ requests, concerns and complaints, and respond to them in a fair way.
Management information
Have adequate management information
We ensure we have adequate reporting processes and information systems relating to these principles to measure how well we are performing against them.