Advisers need to slightly rewire the way they interact with clients given the evolving technological landscape, according to Mark Hutchinson, membership director at the Chartered Insurance Institute.
Speaking to FT Adviser, Hutchinson discussed how the CII was developing its CPD material and what members have been interested in learning more about.
He said: “We always ask members for their input and feedback on what they want to see. At the moment, a lot of members ask for more about divorce, for instance, dealing with and helping clients through what is a pretty nasty process sometimes.
"As part of that, we also try to balance the technical side of the skills they need with the softer side. And divorce is another excellent example.
“It is not all about the technical planning, it is about being someone that is good with clients and can help them in what is a vulnerable and very difficult circumstance.”
Hutchinson explained how the CPD material was “hot topic” driven which included content on technology and AI.
“Part of it is technology, but part of it is also trying to help members understand the next generations of clients and how their needs differ. We have got the digital natives now coming on board and is the operating model and the proposition going to be the same for those new clients?
“We have taken the view that there is really a little bit of rewiring necessary with the pre retirees. It is just getting members to think about how they might need to do things slightly differently if they're going to keep advising the huge wealth that's going to be transferred between generations,” he said.
Hutchinson also discussed upcoming content that is driven by what is happening currently in the industry and economy.
“At the moment, we have got a new government. There's going to be a Budget coming up soon. We have also got a rise of claims management companies trying to get involved with advisory firms, which is a worry for a lot of firms. So we have got content coming out soon which is really helping them to understand good practice and the way they should deal with it,” he added.
Hutchinson said the professional body was doubling its centralised events but at the same time investing in PFS locals to deliver more community based content that is interesting in that particular area at the moment.
He also highlighted the work the PFS was doing to provide CPD material on the soft skills advisers use in their role through PFS Power.
“We have got a couple of webinars coming up working with imposter syndrome. It is quite an interesting one while 10 steps to a special needs financial plan is another. So some quite niche things are going on there as well.
