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Created by the Money Advice Trust’s Chris Fitch, Colin Trend, and Ian Phillips, the Academy is built around case-studies and presentations from leading practitioners and firms across (and beyond) financial services, supported by facilitated examination and analysis of approaches already being taken in practice.
The Academy also draws on a blend of exclusive video, audio, podcast, and course-work review for participants, with the aim of helping participants embed vulnerability throughout the culture, policies, and relevant customer journeys of their organisation.
The finalised Guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers makes it clear that vulnerability remains at the very top of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) agenda. With cases of financial vulnerability continuing to increase as a result of the economic downturn, our Vulnerability Academy will ensure firms are prepared to meet the challenges posed to customers and colleagues.
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Many firms recognise the need to improve their knowledge, policies and practical responses to the challenges their colleagues face in identifying and supporting customers in vulnerable circumstances. However, in a political and regulatory environment where ‘vulnerability’ remains a fluid concept, and where firm conduct, resources and commercial pressures are under scrutiny, firms need to plan and prioritise.
The refreshed FCA Guidance makes clear that to meet customer needs, firms should translate their understanding of the needs of their vulnerable customers into practical action. This is set out in three main stages of their interactions with consumers:
This means that an effective response to vulnerability must also be led by and make parallel improvements to the strategic, policy, governance and information environments that these colleagues will be working in.
At the end of each Vulnerability Academy cohort, delegates come together for a final graduation, providing the opportunity to review their action plans, as well as recognising their achievement.
Graduates also enjoy lifetime membership of the Vulnerability Academy’s Alumni network, giving them access to a wealth of ongoing insight and exclusive events, as well as the support of a community of experts engaged in driving the same outcomes in their everyday roles.
The recommended participants should be colleagues responsible for development of their organisations strategy for supporting vulnerable customers, these include:
Who should attend:
Audience:
If you have five or more delegates who wish to attend these course, it may be more cost effective to run it in-company. To find out more about in-company training, please contact the team on 020 3934 1197 or training@ukfinance.org.uk
Building our Foundation
Identifying Vulnerability and Understanding Customer Needs
Communication and Engagement
Design, Support, and Partnerships
Quality, Monitoring and Evaluation
Vulnerability Lead Consultant, Money Advice Trust
He is Vulnerability Lead at the Money Advice Trust and a Research Fellow at the Personal Finance Research Centre, University of Bristol. Previou...
He is Vulnerability Lead at the Money Advice Trust and a Research Fellow at the Personal Finance Research Centre, University of Bristol. Previously he was Head of Policy and Research Fellow at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
The programme that Chris leads aims to result in outputs which are ‘short on the obvious, and long on the practical’ – and with colleagues, he has written practical guidance for firms and staff on both effectively working with customers who are in vulnerable situations, and also looking after their own wellbeing and working environment following such contact.
In 2017, Chris was named in Credit Strategy’s Top 50 influencers in the creditor sector, and in 2015 he received the Martin Williams award for contribution to the UK credit industry (awarded each year by Credit Today) for the programme’s work on mental health, vulnerability, and financial services.
Lead Trainer, Money Advice Trust
Colin is the lead tutor with the Money Advice Trust on their vulnerability programme, assisting both in the UK and overseas. With Chris Fitch, he co-a...
Colin is the lead tutor with the Money Advice Trust on their vulnerability programme, assisting both in the UK and overseas. With Chris Fitch, he co-authored the Trust’s vulnerability guidance for advice agencies, launched by the charity with the backing of a range of organisations across the advice sector in June 2016.
Vulnerability Expert, Money Advice Trust
The ability to take this first-hand experience and apply it to the “bigger picture” saw Ian spend the last 12 years in a number of leadership roles at...
The ability to take this first-hand experience and apply it to the “bigger picture” saw Ian spend the last 12 years in a number of leadership roles at Lloyds Banking Group. He spent the first four years engaged in product and proposition design and management for the Scottish Widows brand, before taking on the challenge of engaging directly with Regulators over a large scale conduct enforcement action and designing and embedding a wholesale overhaul of outcome testing that has gone to become the long term approach for the UK’s biggest banking group, across all products and services, as well as being replicated by a number of competitor firms.
Most recently, Ian led a team providing independent advice and challenge to the front line business, designed to interpret Regulatory policy, principles and future expectation and support the Group in addressing risks before they crystallised for customers. Part of this remit saw him lead on overseeing design and embedding of the Group’s Customer Vulnerability strategy, across all areas of the business and encompassing, amongst other things; product and process design, customer treatments, policy, training, governance and monitoring and evaluation.
During his time leading on Vulnerability, Ian graduated from the first cohort of the UK Finance Academy, so has first hand experience of the benefit delegates can derive from the programme. Part of the ethos of the academy is to see previous delegates return in a contributory capacity and in line with that, together with feedback from facilitators and peers alike on his contribution, Ian was asked to return as co-lead from the start of Cohort Three.
At the same time, Ian has left the Head Office world at LBG and returned to what he loves best - meeting customer needs as Director of his own Commercial Finance brokerage
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