Blacktower’s UK business operates on a platform basis, and Westwood predicts the entire company will be based on platforms in the next two years. “It is the only way to go,” he says. “Technology, specifically platforms, will be absolutely essential and key to any successful wealth management company to run its client bank and expand.
“The introduction of platforms as a common vehicle for business to be conducted on has eased the process and made it more manageable and scalable, which is very important for IFA businesses that are growing.”
While implementing technology is not quite so easy in the international markets as in the UK, Westwood says it is becoming more imperative to help win clients, and therefore “electronic advice” is becoming more of a focus for the business.
That said, Blacktower rarely finds itself in direct competition. “When people come to us, they have often already carried out the research before making the decision to contact us,” he says. “I think it’s the longevity, the sheer size of the business and the quality of the advisers we have on board that attracts clients to us.
“We are very strict in how we do things, our compliance procedures are robust and all of our advisers, including our Nexus network members, follow a strict company mandate on how they can advise. That package bolted together gives a lot of comfort to the consumer.”
Standard bearer
Blacktower’s stringent compliance regime, which it runs from its growing compliance departments in the UK and Gibraltar, is also now managed from its new office in the Cayman Islands.
The Cayman Islands’ business was granted a full discretionary management licence last year, which Blacktower hopes will footprint out into local markets, including North America and the Caribbean.
The firm has also worked closely with the regulators in the past two years to ensure compliance standards are maintained throughout the various arms of the business.
“This means there are very tight and highly controlled checking systems in place throughout all of the offices, which feed into the head offices as well,” he says.
Looming horizon
Now at the helm of the business, Westwood has full oversight and control and is continually looking for new opportunities, including potential acquisitions and mergers.
“We are continually building the business from a very firm footing to make it as big as it can be in a changing marketplace,” he says. “From our point of view the sizeable wealth management companies will be the winners in this changing market.
He says this is also the reason the firm is keen to grow its Nexus IFA Network, designed for individuals who are running their own financial advice company.
For former engineer Westwood, the IFA landscape has altered vastly over the years but, having learnt from these changes, he has successfully engineered Blacktower into a sturdy vehicle that is sailing on course for new markets, with Cyprus, Sweden, Belgium and North America now looming on the horizon.
