Under its new parent, Abbey has decided, as a core part of its strategy, to play an important role in the Wrap and Sipp markets through its flagship James Hay brand. Ignacio Izquierdo, Abbey Wealth Management's Director of Sales and Marketing, explains how Financial Advisers with high net worth clients are at the heart of Santander's big-view strategy for the UK intermediary market
When Banco Santander acquired Abbey in 2004, perhaps some Financial Advisers were sceptical about our commitment to the intermediary market. After all, they might have thought that dealing through Financial Advisers was not part of our business culture or experience.
It is true, of course, that the financial services distribution model in the UK is different from that in other countries where we operate. But we had always understood the importance of the intermediary market here - and it was a key element in our strategic thinking from day one.
Santander's business model is based on tailoring our products, services and distribution to take account of local culture, ethos and established ways of doing business. We believe that this flexibility, adaptability and sensitivity has been a major catalyst to our growth in all our markets, and that it is particularly relevant here in the UK.
Following our acquisition of Abbey, our first task was to undertake a strategic review of the business, in order to identify all the elements that should be core to our future strategy.
As a result, we took the decision to sell Abbey's life businesses to Resolution plc. We believe that this deal, completed on 1 September this year, brings major benefits to Abbey and to our customers. It allows us to focus on building our Wealth Management proposition in the UK intermediary market while securing both product and service continuity through our existing Abbey for intermediaries sales teams. Furthermore, we firmly believe Resolution has the expertise, strength and focus to manage and develop the life businesses going forward.
Our decision to focus on Wealth Management was also consistent with the current shift change happening in the financial services markets. We quickly realised that our arrival had come at a pivotal point of time, as major directional changes were taking place in the intermediary market. We recognised that these would create enormous new opportunities for forward-looking Financial Advisers - and also for those providers ready to support them with a new generation of products and services.
We believe that the move towards advice-led financial services will be fuelled (and led) by the growth of Sipp and Wraps - and that this trend is likely to accelerate, as financial products become progressively more commoditised and the gap in the market continues to grow between savers requiring simple products at one end, and the capital-affluent, requiring advice and service, at the other.
In this context, James Hay is in a unique position. A company whose commanding presence in the Sipp market and pre-eminence in Wrap administration is the result of bold and decisive pioneering work that is underpinned by a commitment to excellence at all levels.
By the time Abbey became part of the Santander Group it was already a leading player in the new, but rapidly growing, UK Wrap market. Not only did it launch the first FSA-approved Wrap platform, and secure its position, but it had avoided more limited options and built its service on the advanced, open architecture that is the essential requirement for a full Wrap.
In addition to their immediate and long-term growth potential, both Wraps and Sipps have a natural 'fit' within the Abbey Group. One of the great strengths of our Wrap service is that all the activities necessary to support Wraps - banking, stockbroking, fund-dealing - are performed within the group. It means we are not dependent on the commitment of any outside suppliers to maintain the high quality of service that has been established.
We are determined to capitalise on James Hay's established expertise to become a market leader in both the Sipp and Wrap markets, and we are totally committed to supporting the independent intermediary market upon which these two rapidly expanding services rely.
We believe James Hay gives us a very strong foundation on which to build for the future.
So strong is our confidence in the James Hay brand that the Abbey Wrap will be relaunched as James Hay Wrap.
The foundation blocks of our future strategy and development in the intermediary market will then be fully in place. Abbey for Intermediaries will continue to market our mortgages and protection products provided by Resolution. Abbey Wealth Management will formulate ongoing strategies, provide the support infrastructure and develop our Wrap and Sipp propositions on the ground with Financial Advisers - bringing them onto our platforms, providing assistance and helping them develop their businesses on the basis of open architecture solutions.
When it happens, you will also see we've introduced the Santander 'flame' as part of the James Hay logo. We want to signal, strongly, that James Hay is part of the Santander Group - and that, as our flagship in the intermediary market, it is a major asset.
The change is much more than simply cosmetic. We are 100% committed to being a market-leading force in Sipp and Wraps for the long term and to the intermediary market.
We have listened to what Financial Advisers have told us and have made substantial investments in the development of our service over the course of this year. As a result, I am delighted to announce a considerable upgrading of our Wrap service, which will come into effect during the course of this Autumn, in which we will introduce significant enhancements, for both new and existing Wraps.
All of these enhancements to our platform have been based on research among Financial Advisers and feedback from Financial Adviser seminars. We listened, and will continue to listen to you. So, you have my commitment that we will go on investing in improvements to our service, and that further new developments will continue to appear on an ongoing basis.
Speaking for James Hay, I can tell you that we're determined to succeed, and we're completely focused. Complex asset administration, via Sipps and Wraps is all James Hay does. What's more, we are determined to be the best at doing it. Recognition like the recent Moneywise Award for Best Comprehensive Sipp Provider, our third year in a row for winning this award, makes us confident we are moving in the right direction.
We are proud of our achievements so far - but we are even more excited by what lies ahead - the next chapter in the history of James Hay as part of the Santander Group.
We invite you to take the journey with us.
