The show must go on: Turning digital to support advisers through Covid-19

When we first announced the Financial Adviser Event (FAE) at the start of January, we never envisaged how drastically our working lives would change in such a short period of time.

FAE launched as an immersive, education and technology focused event which offered the chance to network and spend valuable face-to-face time with the industry’s biggest businesses in two locations.

In line with government guidance, we decided to reschedule our London and Manchester events to later in the year as the industry (and the entire country) adopted social distancing rules and adapted to working from home.

The Event was designed to ‘future-proof’ advice businesses and, as our offering is all about showcasing how innovation and technology can support advisers, it was vital that we utilised our own expertise to adapt our offering during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The entire ethos of FAE is about looking forwards, preparing advisers for what’s next, and not relying on how it’s always been done.

So, within three weeks of postponing our physical events, we launched the Digital Financial Adviser Event to offer help, support and guidance to advisers during the Covid-19 lockdown period.

Financial services is in a constant state of evolution and change – whether that’s due to regulation, the economy or technological advances – but we believe advisers need support and guidance more than ever as the market continues to change in response to Covid-19.

Advisers are dealing with the challenges of remote working, a plethora of product and criteria changes, and are more reliant on technology than ever before to support their clients and keep their businesses running throughout the pandemic.

As the industry adapts during this unprecedented period, it’s important that we do too to ensure that advisers are not missing out on vital educational and networking opportunities when they need it most.

The Digital Financial Adviser Event will connect with advisers across the country and give industry experts the chance to help guide the intermediary community through these unprecedented months.

The event will feature sessions corresponding with areas of the physical FAE show, including seminar sessions, educational Learning Pods, technology Demo Labs, and a Marketing Hub, all led by industry experts from the biggest firms in financial services.

Our event was launched to showcase the latest technology and innovation in the market, but we didn’t expect we’d be utilising them ourselves so soon.

The outbreak of Covid-19 has proved that events like this, which showcase what’s on offer to better support intermediary firms and their clients, are more vital than ever and we hope that we can play our part to help advisers stay informed and connected during this period and beyond.