Provider Research
LWheel2003
Member
When you are doing provider research, if the one your Adviser "wants to use" is not the most cost effective, could you advise what other justification you are using, that gets approved by Compliance to be valid reasons for not using the cheapest option. I have standard phrases but a fresh opinion on this would be appreciated. In the main we are using this Provider because their customer service is very good and their back office system is very efficient too.
Comments
I would start with what the adviser's rationale for using it is! It's their name on the advice and the recommendations.
The cheapest option may not always be the best for various reasons, and the reasons you have said are a good start, but not really sufficient, potentially. For example, does the cheaper provider have good service too, or rubbish customer service and back office systems that make it no good?
What about features and benefits of each? Does the more expensive one have benefits and features the client needs whereas the cheaper one does not? That would be a justification as it better meets the clients needs.
Has the adviser said why that one over the lower cost one other than service and back office systems? I would start there as you'll need robust other reasons to justify it, which will need to be detailed in the file too, and I doubt the 'because the adviser wanted this one' defence will cut it, as you say!