4 Page Reports

Hi All

Lovely to meet lots of you on Thursday at the PowWow - there was a lot of chat about 4 page reports with everything else in the appendices. Whilst our reports are generally structured this way, I am struggling to get the main body down to 4 pages.

Would any of you lovely lot care to depersonalise a version and let me have a peak - I promise I won't steal it, I just want to get my head around how it could look and how much we can chop out!

Thank you!

Ruth Baker

Comments

  • The font must be very small?!

  • Here is the one page protection report I wrote after last year's report writing howwow. As I said on Thursday, it was more an exercise in the possible than the practical. But it is definitely possible to extend the principles here to get you to a four page report for any recommendation.

    Obviously you'd need some appendices.

    Benjamin Fabi 
  • That's brilliant - thank you Benjamin!

    Ruth Baker

  • > @ruthiebusybee said:
    > Hi All
    >
    > Lovely to meet lots of you on Thursday at the PowWow - there was a lot of chat about 4 page reports with everything else in the appendices. Whilst our reports are generally structured this way, I am struggling to get the main body down to 4 pages.
    >
    > Would any of you lovely lot care to depersonalise a version and let me have a peak - I promise I won't steal it, I just want to get my head around how it could look and how much we can chop out!
    >
    > Thank you!

    We have a couple. However, drawdown can go over 6 pages. Would you like me to dropbox some to you? Ping me an email mgreen@chadneybulgin.co.uk
  • I think there is a demand for sharing report ideas, hence the popularity of the recent report writing powwows, so threads like this are really useful. I struggle a bit with our charges section, in particular for replacement business letters. The aim is to communicate clearly:

    • Existing plan charges vs Recommended plan charges (initial and ongoing)
    • Adviser charges - initial and ongoing
    • Reduction in Yield comparisons, (existing vs recommended), especially when we are transferring several plans.
    • Additional Growth Rate required figure

    There is quite a lot to include there and it isn't always very clear and can become confusing for the client, with figures flying around everywhere.

    Any suggestions welcome!

  • benjaminfabibenjaminfabi Moderator
    edited September 2018
    First off get rid of the bottom two bullet points!

    If you were at the Manchester howwow you'll have seen the example that Rory Percival went through. If it's good enough for him it's good enough for me (nothing Dodgy about it!)

    The other key point is that the suitability report needs a statement of fact about the outcome eg an advantage is that ongoing costs are reduced by £x pa

    The appendix provides the detailed replacement business analysis. Keep the report very simple. One line summaries of what is good and what is bad.
    Benjamin Fabi 
  • JonaJona Member
    edited September 2018

    Spare a thought for us lot that don't have this freedom to produce sensible and client friendly reports and are bound by our networks paranoid compliance team that insist on letter of the law and own bottom covering reports.

    Nice problems to have!

  • Jona,

    Challenge them!

    What you refer to as 'letter of the law' is nothing more than their interpretation of what needs to be included in the main body of a suitability report to meet the requirements of COBS 9.4.7, which is three sentences!

    Tricky in a network I understand that, but they are still just people at the end of the day.

    Benjamin Fabi 
  • @benjaminfabi Believe me I have challenged them.

    Very much a reinforced concrete wall that my head keeps on meeting.

    I shall persist!

  • I agree Jona, we have to take it step by step... the compliance industry isn't going to make itself redundant overnight. At the individual level, people won't give up all they've believed in and invested their careers in. It's tough, we can only do our best and pick our battles.

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