Operational resilience is something that all firms need to have. The traditional financial services response to a crisis has always been to create a remote site where business can continue as normal, with banks of desks, computers and phones housed in a warehouse or separate office. But the lead up to lockdown and the resulting necessity for all staff to work from home was something that no one could have foreseen from a distance or predicted.

A part of that, says MacTaggart, is to equip teams with the right kit to enable them to work effectively from home. “We pride ourselves on our operational resilience, which was reflected in our ability to support both clients and staff during the extreme circumstances we faced earlier this year,” he says.

He explains: “Some time ago, I implemented a programme ensuring all staff had access to a full tech suite enabling virtual collaboration not just internally but with clients, and that every member of the organisation was equipped with the necessary kit to work as easily from any of our sites, or from home, as they could from their primary office base. This turned out to be a prescient move. As early events unfolded in China and then Italy, we quickly ran some testing on the robustness of everything from our communications systems to our server links.”

The result was that the firm and its staff were ready when full lockdown took effect and everyone was working remotely from home before lockdown was announced. ”Nonetheless, I still marvel at the way the firm’s staff moved almost seamlessly from an office-based working life to an entirely remote one. Staff meetings resumed immediately online, trades and transactions were processed and clients were able to continue the relationship with our advisers at a key time as markets whipsawed.

Killik & Co also moved quickly to prepare clients: “We instigated a series of email communications to clients – backed up by 1:1 calls – to ensure they were aware of our whereabouts and that we were on hand to help, support and serve them as normal. We have overwhelmingly found clients to be comfortable and in many cases enthusiastic about working with us in new ways as it also opens up greater flexibility for them. Interestingly, as you would expect, our total number of video meetings both internally and externally has risen by over 3,000%,” he says.

MacTaggart says that having the right technology already in place was essential to this transition, and the firm was able to move from operating 10 sites for 250 staff to managing 250 home sites. Twenty years ago, that simply would not have been possible. He points to the willingness of staff to ensure no disruption to client service, meaning that even those with more traditional approaches to client service embraced remote communication and new working practices. “It meant we maintained client engagement even as working conditions changed,” he says.

“Everyone adapted incredibly fast and effectively to video conferencing, for example, rather than face-to-face meetings. Naturally, the more traditional communications channels, such as telephone calls and emails, also stayed open.

“The only thing we have not been able to service is demand from a relatively small sub-section of clients for face-to-face meetings in our offices. But like other firms, we expect these to resume later in the year when it is safe to do so,” he says.

“But, meanwhile, our advisers also managed to find creative ways to hold socially-distant client and prospect meetings, from meeting new prospects during the applause for the NHS to garden meetings with clients during the excellent spring weather,” he adds.

But technological challenges are only part of the picture. Many firms have had to cross a massive cultural hurdle too – remote working changes the way that teams interact and how managers oversee staff and key internal processes. And yet the speed at which change has nonetheless been embraced across the industry has been remarkable.

“A good example of enforced change has been where a specific aspect of the way we do business does not lend itself to remote working. A simple example would be handling physical post, or obtaining ‘wet’ signatures where they are still required.” The tax, wills and trusts team bore the brunt of this, he says, with frequent visits to offices to retrieve original documents and apply the requisite amount of signatures.

“Fortunately, as a firm and as an industry, the use of digital signatures is becoming far more prevalent. Bigger challenges have included onboarding new clients. For example, ‘in specie’ transfers (where assets are moved from one firm to another) still take place in an arcane environment of faxes and signatures. The particular challenge here is with fund management and has resulted in lengthy delays in the process.”

Risk
Risk management has also faced a few adjustments. MacTaggart explains that under the supervision of a risk committee and the firm’s compliance function, there are three lines of defence as a business, all of which have remained fully in place since the start of lockdown.

“The first is our people and specifically our ‘risk champions’. Whilst risk management is to some extent about technical solutions such as firewalls and encryption, these people are the true gatekeepers. The second line of defence is the huge array of monitoring checks, controls and risk management policies that are in place. The third is internal audit, who checks that the first line and second lines are operating correctly and stay alert to regulatory, or other, changes,” he says.

Looking forward
“I think it is important to accept that the world has now changed – we have shown that we can adapt to it,” he says. As for the future, Killik & Co are now planning for the next normal. “We want to create an environment for clients and staff alike that combines the best aspects of our fixed geographical locations with the remote working practices we adopted since the start of lockdown.”

MacTaggart thinks that the way in which the industry works has changed for good.

“For clients, the way they engage with their advisers during lockdown has changed, and in many cases for the better. Moving forward, the use of integrated and secure online tools – for example, enabling clients to see their adviser’s calendar and book an appointment directly choosing their preferred communication channel (phone, face to face, video) – will increase.”

However, maintaining human contact in a digital world is still critical, and face to face meetings will continue to play and important part in the mix. The aim is to be a business with very strong links to the local communities where there is a physical presence. “Building strong relationships with clients in their local communities has been a key driver of our growth in the past and remains highly important to us, and now technology opens up the opportunity for us to increase our reach and possibly be less London-centric which is exciting.”

“We have never seen what we do as that binary – Killik & Co’s aim is to combine the best that technology can offer savers with the power of human expertise when it comes to investing and wealth planning. Technology totally underpins this,” he concludes.

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