A lot is said (and written) about suitability reports and here at Verve we have the benefit of both producing these day in and day out, and seeing what other firms are doing themselves. If we were asked to consider five top tips for suitability reports we would say:
No one wants to read a slab of text that is more reminiscent of a terms and conditions document, so look at where you can bring in variety. You don’t have to have a complete design overhaul just to introduce significant immediate improvements. Think the use of tables, bullet points and different-sized text as starting points.
Apart from the obvious compliance issues with using non-client specific wording in a suitability letter, consider how off-putting it would be to the reader to read what is constantly abstract. Clients don’t want to necessarily read about what the lump sum allowance is, they want to read about how that relates to them. So talk about technical concepts but try and quickly bring it back to the client.
We get so focused on what we need to include in the suitability report, we tend to forget what we don’t need to include. The report should not be a substitute for a comprehensive file and you should consider whether the report really needs all the detailed analysis and assessments, or whether this is best served as a reference in the report, with the option for the client to request the information.
Instead of viewing the suitability report as something that needs to be provided due to regulations saying you have to, look at it as something you want to provide. Would you like your report to go to your own friend or family members? You’ll find ways to make it look and read better by engaging with the idea of doing one in the first place.
Sounds obvious, but it is all too easy to write the report for someone other than the actual recipient. Some will write the report on the basis of how the adviser and/or compliance will read it and this is a considerably different audience from your typical client. You may also be tempted to showcase your knowledge and expertise in the suitability report but again this is wrong. A client ultimately wants to be advised and won’t want to have to have a dictionary to hand while reading the report.
We use these principles when we are both writing up suitability reports and helping firms redo their own. If you think you need help in either of these areas feel free to reach out to us here.
