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10 Commitments

We are fortunate to have not experienced these issues with our previous employers. From listening to Experienced Advisers who reach out to us though, we know these are the common problems they face in our industry. Rather than making promises, at Cameron James we prefer to confirm everything in writing for our Advisers.

1. Adviser Payments​

On time. Every time. No excuses.

Few people are fortunate enough to be able to work for free. While our Advisers are passionate about helping clients and providing high-quality advice, like anyone else, they need security. At Cameron James, we maintain a robust cash flow policy. As such, your Adviser agreement will confirm that for any late payment, interest will be applied at business rates of 8% (Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998).

Late Payments!​

The feedback from Experienced Advisers is that ‘delayed’, ‘late’ and ‘stuck in the system’ payments are common. Often impacting the Adviser’s life outside of work. We wish to address this issue head-on.

Why Make This Commitment?

Security is fundamental for humans and without consistent income, you cannot grow and develop. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is still taught on almost every Business & Management degrees globally. We value your growth, and making our workplace a positive and motivated environment. Adviser’s & Staff should be able to enjoy the reward of their work without asking for it. It is your money, not ours.

What Is The Catch?​

There is no catch. We just want our Advisers to be focused on clients. Any time spent chasing payments is a poor use of time and resources. Also, the ongoing psychological impact of financial insecurity is draining on any professional. We cannot expect our Advisers to provide high-quality financial advice if they are unable to provide financial security for themselves. We know of no other Advisory firm offering such a payment commitment – so we think we are doing something right.

New Advisers - Fixed monthly salaries

Building a career in any industry is tough. Financial Advisory is no exception. So we ensure all New Advisers have a fixed salary to focus on getting the balling.

2. Transparent & Open Lead System

No Uncertainty. Everyone Can See Everything.

Everyone knows the famous “Always Be Closing” scene from Glengarry Glen Ross. Leads are a strong and valuable resource. Positive. Motivating. A lack of transparency can undermine team morale, though. At Cameron James, every team member from Advisers to Admin can see the volume and quality of leads distributed to each Adviser.

Converting leads to revenue is an essential part of any business. Much can be learned from the journey of a lead transforming from an educated prospect and a long-term client. At Cameron James, we operate an open-advice-system where Advisers share their experience on cases. Every client is a valuable resource to learn.

Benefits

  • Team Morale – Advisers, know the score. Experienced Advisers described feeling demotivated at other firms where a transparent system was not in place.
  • SEO – Everyone can see what content is driving website traffic. Advisers can then adapt new content strategies to target this niche.
  • Was It Us? – Understanding ‘drop-off’ in the advice journey is crucial. It allows the company and Adviser to assess their strengths and review their weaknesses.
  • Adviser Performance – More accurate analysis of Adviser performance. Similar to a strikers ratio goals scored from the number of chances they received.
  • Pooled Experience– One Adviser may have in-depth knowledge of a particular area. By sharing this, all clients receive better quality advice and outcomes.
  • Efficiency – Our open system allows Advisers to decide if another Adviser might have more expertise for a particular client and swap cases. The decision is theirs.
  • Timing – An Adviser may be buried in a big DB case. So advisers can exchange leads to ensure the client gets a call back the same day with a focused Adviser.

3. Rewarding Initiative

Your Initiative. Your Gain.

At Cameron James, we reward initiative. If you are proactive, work hard and think outside of the box, you will be rewarded. All leads attributed to your efforts go to you. For example, when an Adviser produces unique blog content, any leads generated are tracked and go directly to them.

Benefits

  • Independence – Advisers can take control of their success. How many new leads they receive is directly correlated to their proactiveness.
  • Finding Your Niche – Successful Advisers find a niche. Period. This means knowing more about one type of client or sector than any other Adviser out there.

4. Independent Financial Adviser

We Support The Best Advice Only. No Provider Rules.

We believe strongly in the term IFA. In our opinion, any firm that has excessive control over which providers its IFA’s can work with is not providing clients with independent advice. Our Advisers have a pre-approved list of quality providers from years of experience and clients results. Competition is healthy though, and industries change. We support any advice or provider that benefits our clients’ interests, whether it be through lower costs, better service or performance.

Benefits

  • Truly Independent – No top-down bias. Advisers can research the market and find the solution most appropriate to their client’s requirements.
  • Client Trust – You build strong client relationships as they can demonstrate they are working for their client and not for CJ.

5. Full-Time PA​

Focus On Your Strengths & High-Value Tasks.

Every successful Adviser reaches this stage. One excellent client meeting followed by another and barely time to grab lunch in between. Business is good. Your backlog of reports and application packs you need to prepare is growing though. Sometimes a client even drops you an email asking about their pack. This is when you know have reached a bottleneck.

Even if you stay late and sacrifice your evenings, you are still behind. Plus dealing with all new client tasks (withdrawals, change of addresses, FATCA forms, letters of authorities) that crop up daily. You have given everything to reach this stage in your career. You remember when you would have killed to be this busy but now you at risk of burning out.

Introducing Your Full-Time PA

Each Experienced Adviser has their own dedicated PA paid for by CJ. Your PA is there to help you increase business levels. Managing your diary, scheduling appointments, preparing application packs, booking travel arrangements and all task that are not a high-value use of your time. A wise man in our industry once called these pound tasks.

Your PA is not below you though. Quite the opposite. Each Adviser must be able to complete all tasks themselves before delegating. The purpose of your PA is to free your time and energy for focusing on higher-value activities such as client meetings, analysis, and writing articles. Providing a full-time PA is an expensive commitment from CJ. Advisers must demonstrate that it is a valuable investment through their business levels and content creation.

6. Working Remotely​

Everyone Knows How They Work Best

Our Advisers are part of a team – Sharing and collaborating ideas and experience. Every Adviser can learn something from another Adviser. We also respect that our Advisers earnings are independent though. With communication via Skype, WhatsApp, Zoom, we encourage our Advisers to find the formula that is right for them. The only rule of thumb is that your business levels must speak for themselves.

7. Qualifications - RDR Level 4​

Setting You Apart From Your Competition

We are committed to ensuring all Advisers reaching UK RDR Level 4. This means all clients receive UK qualified and EU MiFID II regulated advice. Setting you apart from the unqualified and unregulated competition. We also run weekly CPD training sessions. Helping you maintain your CPD logs and stay on top of ever-changing topics such as DB pensions. Enabling you to stand out against the crowd with superior knowledge and advice.

8. Marketing, Training & Shadowing​

Boxing Smart. Increasing Your Conversion Ratios

Hard work and determination are essential in any successful career. Financial Advice is no different – You cannot replace hard graft. The table doesn’t lie.

You Can Box Smarter Though!

  • Knowledge – Ensuring you are more knowledgeable and up to date than your competitors. Through your qualifications, CPD training and Adviser presentations, our Advisers keep themselves one step ahead.
  • Closing Ratios – Minimising your drop-off. Every member of the CJ team is there to improve you. Whether it be senior management experience with expats, tips from other Advisers or observations from your PA. You must enter the team with an open mind though and be prepared to give and receive constructive criticism.
  • Quality – Improving the quality of your leads. We will teach you how to engage your niche market and get clients to contact you for advice.

New Advisers​

Adviser Shadowing – This programme provides you the opportunity to learn from a successful and Experienced Adviser. Learning the technical advice and how they presented it. Not to mention all the industry tips like how to get cases processed quicker! Our Adviser Shadowing programme is our way of paying forward the support we received from those larger than life characters in our early career.

This is a crucial stage of your career. It is make or break in financial services, and it is our role to match your ambition and enthusiasm with all the Coaching & Training you need. Desire to grow is a two-way street, though. Candidates must show commitment.

9. Itemised Provider Payments & TOBs​

You See Every Provider Payment. To The Penny.

Some firms collate Adviser trail payments and combine them to you in one payment. We prefer an open system. We want you to see every provider payment with complete visibility. We have seen instances of Advisers identifying significant missing payments from providers that the accounts team had missed. Simple mistakes, but we can then raise this with the provider to ensure you are rewarded correctly.

Terms Of Business (TOB)​

We have TOB or enhanced TOB with every leading provider, so no need to worry. Our enhanced TOB may even provide an improved level of income for you.

10. Manage Your Own Team & Promotions​

Want To Manage? We Won’t Get In Your Way.

If you are currently running a team or considering joining with your team – then this section is for you. We offer all the support needed to grow your idea or team. For example, a team might be focused on a specific area of advice or jurisdiction. In our experience, every great Adviser started by finding a niche. Something falls into place, and they suddenly enter a purple patch of success.

New Advisers - Promotions​

Your success is our success. We are a rapidly expanding company and encourage Advisers to be pushing for senior or team leader positions. As a boutique firm, our Advisers have regular exposure to senior management. So your talent is quickly recognised compared to larger companies where it can take longer to be noticed.

Apply Now

Think Your Business Levels Would Increase?

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