The Henley Group, an advisory firm, has launched an index to track financial companies' service quality, responding to a recent industry review by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. 

MAS published a series of Finacial Advisory Industry Review recommendations in mid January this year, one of which is to better align the interests of financial advisory representatives and their clients. Among other suggestions, MAS proposed that financial advisory firms consider adopting a balanced scorecard approach, incorporating non-sales key performance indicators into their overall remuneration structures.

“Rather than adopt a ‘wait and see approach’, The Henley Group have decided to take the lead and have formally launched The Henley Fair Index,” the firm said in a statement.

The index is an assessment tool that the group will use to assess the quality of advice and service that an adviser has provided to their client, The Henley Group said. The balanced scorecard methodology takes into account several key metrics included in the MAS’s recommendations - such measures include the suitability of advice and the provision of a quality after-sales service, the firm said. 

Whilst the Henley Fair Index will initially be used internally to monitor the performance of advisors, the expectation is that it could be used in future to help prospective clients assess the quality of the advice that they have received from other financial advisers, according to the firm.

Testing the quality

“We have spent a great deal of effort recruiting and training experienced advisors who have all the skills, knowledge and resources to provide quality long-term advice. Introducing a tool that can be used to ensure that we maintain the quality of our advisory process makes complete sense and will, I am sure, make sense to our clients and prospective clients,” said Antony Michell, chief executive of The Henley Group.

“We are determined to introduce a culture of fair dealing within The Henley Group. We believe that the introduction today of the Henley Fair Index demonstrates that we fully support the MAS in their attempt to raise the standards of the FA industry here in Singapore and that by doing so we will together help enhance the overall reputation and long-term development of the industry,” he added.

The Henley Group is an international advisory firm with over 22 years’ experience in Asia, over 4,000 clients and close to $1bn of assets under management.