East Anglian wealth managers Chadwicks have been delighted by the response to their latest round of CPD seminars for solicitors and accountants. ‘When we started running these sessions we struggled to get six or seven attendees but just 18 months later we’ve seen a remarkable turnaround. After just one email we’ve had more than fifty people registering for our latest September session’ said business development manager Emma Clayton-Knight. ‘We started with sessions here at our offices in Norwich but we now also run them in Ipswich and Cambridge, alongside in-house sessions for some of the larger solicitor practices in Norwich and Ipswich. They have built gradually and after the September seminars we will have had more than 200 people attend at least one of our sessions, with many coming to several’.
Chadwicks have secured accreditation from the Solicitors Regulation Authority as CPD providers, a step Emma felt was essential in encouraging fellow professionals to attend. ‘It helps that our advice team has a strong academic background and so we were able to demonstrate to the SRA that our sessions included the required level of learning.’
‘We have always worked on a referral basis but felt that post-RDR we had a good proposition and this was something we should be telling more people about. We started by looking at our marketing and felt we needed to position ourselves alongside other professionals. These seminars give us an ideal opportunity to do just that – we have around two hours with a small group of people who can discover the depth of our knowledge and get an understanding of our approach. And at the end they walk away with a CPD certificate and a free sandwich!’
‘It took a full twelve months before we saw anything tangible in return for our not inconsiderable investment of time and money. However, what began as a trickle has become a steady flow of introductions that now account for half our new business. We have also been asked to present to client breakfasts and lunches by some of the region’s leading practices.
Our timing was lucky. From November the SRA is changing its CPD policy, introducing more flexible requirements, so I doubt our approach would be as successful were we to start now. However, we have build strong relationships with a number of practices who see the value in what we deliver so we are confident they will continue to use us.’
Background
Currently solicitors must complete 16 hours CPD annually of which at least 25% must be met by attending accredited courses. Chadwicks currently run a series of four courses, which are based on the firm’s core knowledge areas:
• The Impact on Retirement Planning of the 2014 Budget Changes to Pensions
• Investment Theory
• Passing the Baton – Making a Success of Business Succession
• An introduction to Behavioural Economics
More information at www.chadwicks.co.uk
