Keith Churchouse: Be ready and embrace change

Autumn has traditionally been our busiest time of the year. Indeed, in over three decades of working within financial services, autumn has always been the most productive time of the year.

There are fair reasons as to why, from the back to school mentality drilled into us all from our infancy, to the push to Christmas, to the cooling weather. You can decide for yourself what any motivation is, with the more important point being whether 2020 will be the same as before.

Life has changed for almost all of us over the last, long six months, with traditional working practices altered significantly, such as working from home. With no vaccine in sight this year, a confirmed recession in the UK, and with some offices now carefully reopening, this autumnal engine of productivity could look under threat... but only if you let it!

Refocus

It is always good to challenge yourself as to where you are within your own grand plan, and we all have one, we just may not have put it into perspective. We have seen many clients change their focus recently as to where they are in their life plan, where they want to be, and the changes that they need to make to achieve their renewed perspectives.

This change curve has sometimes been brought about by their own thinking, or alternatively through changes in work circumstances, such as redundancy or the ability to work from home permanently. With the end of the current furlough scheme in sight, the unemployment levels in the UK are set to rise significantly.

Personally, I have been made redundant twice in my working career. The speed at which the process can be delivered, from general suggestion/notice to P45, can be daunting for many.

In both my cases, these were real ‘life junctions' in looking at the way forward. The choices at both times were endless, exciting, and challenging all in one go. I am sure some of your clients are facing these experiences right now, and going back to the basics of what we do so very well will be paramount in being the trusted advisers that most of our clients rely on to provide wise counsel at a time of transition. An honoured position perhaps, but one we must deliver with empathy and care.

The ability to change thinking is good, and affirms new pathways, either within their personal life or business life. It might be suggested that clients are being true to themselves, and some now want to harvest what they have to meet these changed needs.

'Change is inevitable'

As financial planners and advisers, we too will be assessing where we are, where we want to be, and what we want to achieve. Change is inevitable and has our name on, it is just a case of what we do with it. Change is invariably a core function of what we deliver, taking clients on their journey from the start to the finish.

With much change anticipated on the horizon, I would suggest that this autumn may be busier and more productive than ever as we help our clients and enquirers through the next economically volatile period, into 2021 and beyond.

Of any time in my career, I recognise that this will be our profession's time to shine in delivering the true harvest for our clients.

Be ready and embrace change, it has your name on it.

Keith Churchouse is director and Chartered financial planner at Chapters Financial

Read all of Keith Churchouse's columns for PA here

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