Client’s own words (COWs).
This is a powerful and effective way of personalising suitability reports. When you gather know your customer (KYC) information (see ‘K’ blog post) try to record some of the client requirements and objectives using their own words, so that you can repeat the quotes back to the client in the reports.
This provides the ultimate in personalisation and is a great way to cement recommendations.
If you can quote something like
“Both you and Beth want to use you maximum ISA allowance for the next 7 years (when you plan to retire Tom) for the purpose of supplementing your retirement income but also to buy that camper van you’ve always wanted and fulfil your dream of driving around Europe”.



Model behaviour
Alistair MacDougall Compliance Drawdown, EBI, FCA, ML, PI, Switch
The advent of Consumer Duty has catalysed a lot of focus on fair value, or at least a lot of chat. Anecdotal evidence would appear to suggest that many firms may not have made any material changes to their charging structures. However, a recent survey by Schroders gave rise to a headline in the financial […]