Caplan also says the hope is that the OneStep coaching and planning services will help attract the next generation of Charles Stanley clients.
“People don’t necessarily want to have even a free one-hour conversation; that’s too much, it doesn’t suit them. So to be able to check in quickly for 15 minutes is really useful, and they can identify if more is needed or helpful… it’s not traditional bespoke, and I hope it’ll bring those people into the Charles Stanley world.”
Another wealth manager offering guidance is Evelyn Partners, which offers financial coaching to employees as part of its recently launched financial wellbeing service, Moneyhealth.
As a combined wealth management and professional services group, Evelyn Partners’ head of fintech, Tom Shave, notes the potential for its employee financial wellbeing service to expand both of the group’s client bases.
“We believe this [financial wellbeing] solution, which can enhance an employee proposition for employers, helps us on that side of the business from a professional services point of view, ie building out our corporate client base.
“But also, over time, we hope that as we support those employees right from early stage through to those executives, they may also see the benefit of having a relationship on the financial services side with financial planners etc, and we can use that to build out our client base.”
Besides potential growth in clients, Shave adds that the group’s “strong aim” is to bring better financial education to a wider UK population.
“We think individuals are underserved financial education as they’re going through their lives. We think in school there should be more education on financial affairs, and this solution can play a good role in bridging that gap.”
Another brand that is focusing on providing services through employers is Octopus Money, which launched in May and offers both coaching and advice.
The brand, which chief executive Ruth Handcock says will be able to offer mortgage advice in the future, replaces Octopus MoneyCoach that launched in 2021.
“With Octopus Money we can also provide one-to-one financial advice,” says Handcock. “MoneyCoach just provided coaching with a person. With Octopus Money we’ve also got some financial advisers as part of the team.
“And the reason we did that is because we partner with employers, and we found that when we went into workplaces we could help 95 per cent of people, but not 100 per cent of people. So it was important for us to be able to offer something to everyone.”
Handcock adds that there are two benefits to partnering with employers. “People are more likely to book a session if it’s in their working calendar; they log onto it just like they would any other meeting, and it becomes part of a habit that they’ve already formed.
