In this video Simon Brown, Partner and Chartered Financial Planner at BpH Wealth and Carlos Panksep, Managing director of the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX) talk about the meaning of Fiduciary and the role of CEFEX in ensuring we continue to provide financial advice to the highest standards.

Simon, Partner, BpH Wealth-

There have been many regulatory initiatives to improve the quality of service provided by UK financial advisors, but we internally test every decision we make or advice we give against a high fiduciary standard. This standard requires BpH Wealth at all times to act for the benefit and interests of our clients above our own.

We simplify this by asking ourselves, ‘would we give the same advice or guidance to our closest family?’. So essentially, are we a safe pair of hands? Additionally apart from the advice we provide, we also ask, ‘will the level of due diligence and intellectual property we apply through our financial planning process and in our investment portfolios stand up to external scrutiny?’

To ensure we have established and maintain the best possible fiduciary standards, in 2015 BpH Wealth became the first UK financial advice firm to apply for and receive accreditation from the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence, known as CEFEX. At the time of recording in 2019, there were only 3 other UK firms that have achieved this global golden standard.

Carlos Panksep, Managing director, CEFEX-

In most cases individuals do not have the ability to adequately investigate their investment advisors. More often than not, their advisor is a referral from a friend or perhaps a family acquaintance. Referrals work because they often come from someone you trust, but does that mean that trust can be transferred to the advisor?

CEFEX advisors are audited to the industries’ best practice standard by expert analysts. That’s something an investor can take comfort in. Most individual investors don’t have the time or expertise to perform detailed due diligence on investment advisors, and certainly not on an annual basis.

So what about performance? It would be naive to select and monitor an advisor solely on the basis of performance. While this is extremely important, and surely a consistent poor performer should be fired, but it can be a fools game. Why’s that? Because there will always be another portfolio that outperforms yours in any given year.

The real questions are; does my advisor have a documented process that adheres to the industries’ best practices? Is my advisor being the best professional that he or she can be? And who is verifying this for me? That is what a CEFEX certified advisory firm delivers to individuals.