Good
Customer
Outcomes
Enhance your governance and show the regulator that you are on the right path.
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Financial firms need to make sure that they are thinking about the financial consumer in terms of the outcomes from the product or service they are responsible for. Then working backwards, the firm should consider how the service or product is being sold, managed, monitored and therefore created. Are they all aligned to meet and achieve the customer outcomes (expectations)?
We keep firms and financial products, such as Collective Investment Schemes on the right side of regulation.
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We empower, through training and management information, senior management and fund boards with the necessary oversight, due diligence and controls over their financial products and funds​. The main objective is to be able to sign-off “Good Customer Outcomes”.
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We will help your company with the following:
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Prevent issues from happening and implement key controls and processes around risks.
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Keep on the right side of regulation and avoid attention from the FCA.
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Have a system in place to understand where conduct risks lie.
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Governance Connect can clearly demonstrate a passion for the financial industry due to experience from a variety of roles: Working through a regulatory Section 166, Product Governance and managing Wealth on behalf of private clients and institutions.
Therefore, Governance Connect has a very good working (practitioner) understanding of the wealth industry and FCA, in particular the regulatory expectations that firms should have implemented and the journey of change, for example as a response to the FCA’s work started in 2016 and concluded in 2019: the Asset Management Market Study.
We Will Help You To Avoid
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Fines
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Negative Firm Systematic Framework FCA review
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Negative brand implications
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Client restitution
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By helping you develop Governance structures to reinforce client trust and investor protection to retain and win new business
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FCA Lens
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The FCA does not want to just see rules copied, but also to understand how firms have arrived at their systems and controls (SYSC) and how they Treat Customers Fairly (TCF).
How does a firm show that it is monitoring financial products and value creating for money (value assessment)?
Governance Framework
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A governance framework enhances a business and can clearly separate a company from the competition. Clients and the FCA are very keen to hear about those firms who have a great governance culture and can prove that the clients are at the heart of its business (TCF).
As Martin Wheatly, former CEO of the FCA, said:
”…..the regulator has a clear statutory objective to make markets work well for firms and consumers and hence more interest in achieving good customer outcomes.”
This has been picked up by the present (23rd April 2019) CEO, Andrew Bailey, in his speech on the Future of Regulation.
If a firm gets a reputation for “good customer outcomes” then it can keep products sold (retained) and continue to see revenue increasing.
The aim of Governance Connect (GC)
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is to help wealth and asset managers continue to offer compliant products and financial services that give “good customer outcomes”. The approach from GC is through enhanced due diligence (review), a report with findings and recommendations.
Culture
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Consumer outcomes can only come from a fundamental cultural shift within firms – of a kind that cannot be driven by external forces, such as regulatory intervention or a legislative duty – but a cultural shift and direction from the “top”.
Rules are there to make sure “good customer outcomes” are delivered; the how has to be arrived at by individual firms.
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Conduct
Good conduct is not simply about ensuring customer satisfaction, but delivering a good outcome for the customer. This goes beyond process and procedure. Good conduct should deliver value for the customer and the shareholder with a balance between customer outcome and profitability. It encompasses the client outcome and how organisations align their interests with the customers’ long-term interests as per Treating Customers Fairly requirements - embedding the customer at the heart of the organisation.
Please contact Governance Connect for more information on conduct risk identification and good customer outcomes: enquiries@governanceconnect.co.uk
Meet The Team
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​Mathew Priestly is a chartered FSCI with over 20 years’ experience in the financial industry from working for HSBC Global Asset Manager, Barclays Wealth, UBS, Close Brothers and FundRock Partners.
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Testimonial
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"I had the pleasure of working with Matthew, while I was at Close Brothers Asset Management. Matthew joined the investment specialist team and helped our team with presenting on multi-asset class propositions. One particular area Matthew was strong on was in explaining to clients the rationale behind combining different asset classes together into financial solutions. One particular area I would recommend him on, was his understanding of risk and return and in particular stochastic modelling, given he helped the business install that methodology into CBAM’s investment management outcomes, due to bringing with him his experiences from HSBC RBWM. This allowed our business to link the giving of financial advice to the delivery of wealth management to clients and institutions. In addition, I know his help on the product governance committee was invaluable given his understanding around the regulator’s desire for firms to monitor and justify good customer outcomes."
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Chris Ighodaro – Investment Specialist at Schroders Personal Wealth
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