The IFA Life Offices Group (Ilog) of the ABI was formed in 1995 and has
proved itself a success in promoting the cause of IFAs.
The Pass review has been frequently acknowledged as one of the successful
Ilogventures. It has not only helped in the survival of many good IFA firms
but has also helped improve the image of the industry.
Its objective is to consider issues which primarily relate to the IFA
sector. It has a steering group of 14 members, consisting of chief
executives or senior directors of companies who deal mainly or partly in
the IFA marketplace.
I joined the steering group in 1996 and was asked to take over as chairman
in autumn 1997 from Philip Scott of Norwich Union. Pension “misselling” was
obviously high on our agenda at each meeting, and our main concern was to
try to ensure the continua-tion of a healthy IFA distribution channel.
We commissioned res-earch from Pricewaterhouse- Coopers, with the
preconceived notion that the major problem to be solved was one of helping
IFAs, particularly smaller firms, with recompense funding. The findings
indicated the numbers needing help were significant.
But more than that, it was discovered there was little point in designing
a scheme merely to help with the smaller IFA's capital position as many
were having difficulty in knowing where to start with the pension review.
The extent of assistance had to include guidance on cases to review,
assistance with assessment and redress calculations and, finally, finance.
The research work up to that point had, as for some other projects, been
financed internally by the steering group to preserve confid- entiality but
the time had come to involve all offices which had sold pensions through
IFAs as this had to be an industry initiative.
We established the Pension Advisers Support System (Pass) and invited IFA
life offices to participate, not only in funding the running costs but also
in standing behind the £100m loan fund created. It is fair to say the vast
majority of offices willingly backed the initiative and, with the support
of the Treasury and the regulator, all offices finally came on board. In
addition to providing money, many of the Ilog offices seconded people to
assist Pass and it is considered to be one of the mostsuccessful Ilog
ventures.
Although the pension review was always on our agenda, it was not the only
item that we discussed.
One issue which had been concerning Ilog for some time was that there was
no single strong trade body representing IFA firms and our dialogues had to
take place with IFA Association, the Large Intermediaries Group, the Large
Networks Association, as well as with individuals.
The Government and regulators faced the same problem. In 1998, our
informal discussions led us to the conclusion that the timing was right for
the creation of a single body and that Ilog, with the involvement of former
ABI director general Mark Boleat, could act as a catalyst.
However, the initiative had to be owned by IFAs themselves, and, after we
had brought together a steering group, Ilog withdrew, but committed to
provide the initial finance necessary to get the new body to the launchpad.
The creation of Aifa and the choice of Paul Smee asits director-general
has proved of great assistance to Ilog and demonstrated again our
commitment to the IFA sector going forward.
One of the strengths of the Ilog steering group is the willingness of its
members to become involved in the projects which arise from time to time.
Members of the group have played an active part in drafting the ABI
submission on polarisation, and in arranging the joint Ilog/Aifa Conference
last year.
There is an ongoing project in conjunction with Aifa looking at PI cover
for IFAs, and, of course, we are actively involved in looking at Saltr from
an IFA perspective.
IFAs should be afraid of Saltr. The aim of Saltr is to improve standards
within life offices, to make products more understandable to custom-ers and
to make it easier for people to deal with the industry. This must be in the
interests of IFAs.
I recently handed over the chairmanship of Ilog to David Henderson of
Aegon and I am confident that Ilog will continue to play a major role as a
forum for IFA discussions, and one which carries weight in the industry.
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