This is a well-regarded UK wealth manager. It advises high-net-worth clients directly, and it also offers its investment solutions to financial advisers. The investment solution had always had a strong reputation. Distribution hadn't quite kept pace with it, and the firm knew that getting there meant having the right shape of team, with the right people in it.
So it started a significant growth programme, and the leadership team had already done a lot of good work on culture and behaviours. What was missing was order and leadership in the distribution model, particularly in how the firm worked with the national advice firms and network consolidators.
The role
This was the first key leadership hire in the programme, there to make sure everything was joined up from the top to the bottom.
At the top, the firm already had senior strategic partnerships that were well established and working, but they needed more leadership behind them. Those relationships then had to connect properly with the regional Business Development Directors in the field. Underneath that, there was an internal team to build, to look after clients who still needed support but not necessarily a face-to-face BDD.
Why it was hard
The firm needed real leadership ability in someone who was still happy to be on the tools. They had to hold their own in a room with an adviser firm's investment committee, and have the patience to work across marketing, legal and compliance over a long period, shaping a proposition good enough to sit at the centre of a large firm's centralised investment proposition. Then they had to hand that on to the wider distribution team, so everyone was joined up to service the client once it went live.
People who lead at that level often don't want to do the work themselves any more. People who still do the work often haven't led at that level.
How I mapped it
I mapped it in two stages: people already at director level, and senior strategic account directors who were ready to step up. It soon became clear the answer could come from either group. A shortlist of around five took shape, and two of them could have done the job, so the client had a genuinely strong decision to make.
The person who got it had worked on both sides of the fence: in asset management, and then at a large advisory firm building its own investment solution. They'd done the job from the inside, and they were very well networked across the industry.
The outcome
Three months in, it's going well, and they're now building the internal team. I'm already hearing in the market that the firm is making real headway. The brand is well positioned and flows are strong.
What it taught me
As financial services becomes far more open architecture, I'm increasingly finding that people who've worked on both sides of the fence are some of the most interesting candidates. Once you've built a centralised investment proposition yourself, you know exactly what the people choosing one need to hear.