Ian Howe’s first professional life-changing moment took place on an autumn evening in Putney. “I was managing a team of mortgage brokers – even though I was so inexperienced I could barely manage myself, let alone anyone else – and one of them was asking me to show him how he could sell our products against those recommended by the local independent financial adviser (IFA). The product offered by the firm I was working for at the time was actually woefully inadequate by comparison, and at that moment I realised that working for one company and selling only their products was not right for the client. It was a real professional epiphany.”

Soon after, he became an IFA himself and had his second moment of truth. “This was in the 1990s, and like everyone else, I thought that advising clients on products from across the marketplace was the right thing to do. But then I came in contact with financial planning, and I realised that focusing on adding value to clients by differentiating between the features of tax wrappers and chasing investment returns for their own sake was all wrong.

“What I saw – and again, it was a sudden flash of realisation – was that the real value for a client is in creating a financial plan mapping out their future chosen life-plan, focusing on their personal lifestyle goals, their ambitions, what they want to achieve and what they fear. Once you’ve seen the benefits of professional financial planning, it’s almost like a religious conversion – there’s no going back.”
A pragmatic choiceConverted he may be, but Ian originally joined the financial services sector almost by chance. 

Having come from a military family, opting for a Higher National Diploma in business and finance at Bournemouth University wasn’t an obvious choice for Ian, but he decided to be pragmatic and take on a broad curriculum that would prepare him for the world of work. 

That pragmatism resulted in Ian becoming the first in his family to work in commerce, even though there was no grand plan to become a financial services practitioner. He worked in a bar for the summer after graduating, before taking on a job as an adviser with Sun Life Financial of Canada, a pensions and insurance product manufacturer. 

His career to date has included stints with Towry Law and now Baigrie Davies. Along the way, Ian has worked with mentors who have shaped his own approach to working in financial services. 

His first mentor was Miles Standish, formerly managing director of Towry Law and now managing director of Fisher Wealth Management. “He was always a very inspirational, professional, honest and intelligent leader,” Ian remembers.

He also values everything he learned from Arthur Davies CFP™ Chartered FCSI, a founding director of Baigrie Davies, who he has known and worked with for 11 years. “Arthur’s way of viewing the world is fascinating,” says Ian. “He’s one of a kind. He’s very laid back and has a pragmatic way of dealing with the world. Professionally, he has always brought intellect and integrity to all that he does.”

Those important influences during his career have contributed to Ian’s philosophy of maintaining, without compromise, his moral compass. It’s a philosophy that he learned from his parents, and particularly his mother, a “proud Scot”, who instilled in him and his brother the ethic of reciprocity – that is, do unto others what you would do unto yourself. 

“If you consciously bring that [ethic] to your personal and professional life, you can add to society as opposed to just take from it,” says Ian, a father of four daughters, the youngest of whom is nine and the oldest, 18. “It’s the advice I have given to my children and it’s the way we run our business. If you bring that moral and social goodness to the world of commerce, it creates a positive cycle of doing good and then enjoying commercial success.”
Improving clients’ livesWhen Ian joined Baigrie Davies in 2006, the move crystallised the difference between working in an industry and being part of a profession. “It’s quite extraordinary what you can do for your clients when you get to know them and work as their financial planner – how much impact you can have to improve their lives. It’s a huge responsibility and a huge privilege – you can give them peace of mind and the confidence that they’re not going to run out of money, and that they are going to be able to manage their affairs and look after their children and grandchildren.”
"One of the key issues is going to be education, both inside the profession of financial planning and in the wider community of schools and universities, so that people have a broader understanding of how their finances can be managed" The fact that Baigrie Davies has all but removed commission from its revenue, even prior to the Retail Distribution Review being mooted, hammers home the point. “We’re incredibly proud of that. It’s a testament to the professional nature of what we deliver,” he says. Now, he is managing the absorption of the firm into 1825, the Standard Life-owned financial planning business start-up.
Support, advice and guidance At the same time, Ian remains closely involved with the work of the CISI. As a former member of the board of the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP), he played a key role in the organisation’s merger with the CISI in November 2015 and he is still extremely enthused about the partnership.

“The merger was definitely the right thing to do to attempt to grow the profession of financial planning, for the ultimate benefit of the consumer,” he says. “The CISI is a much bigger and better-resourced organisation than the IFP ever was, and its commitment to the promotion of the profession of planning is beyond question. These are exciting times.”

In his new role as chairman of the CISI’s IFP Forum Committee, which is open to all members but focuses on financial planning, he will offer support, advice and guidance to the Institute on what its aims should be for financial planning over the next few years. The Committee was established in November 2015, following the merger, and in October 2016 it welcomed seven new members, to replace retiring members. 

“In terms of membership, we are broadly a brand new committee, so it’s hard to say at this stage exactly what we will be focusing on, but we will see that the CISI has a clear view of the practitioner’s viewpoint,” says Ian. 

“One of the key issues is going to be education, both inside the profession of financial planning and in the wider community of schools and universities, so that people have a broader understanding of how their finances can be managed. It’s also important to remember that financial planning isn’t centred on London – we have a very strong and active branch network, which reflects the fact that clients and potential clients across the UK need our services. We are very much an expanding profession.” A clear mind The CV

2016 – Present: Chairman of the IFP Forum Committee, CISI

2012 – 2015: Director, Institute of Financial Planning

2011 – Present: Director, Serin Wealth

2006 – Present: Managing director, Baigrie Davies

2002 – 2005: Private client director, Advisory & Brokerage

1996 – 2002: Sales manager, City of London branch, Towry Law With so much on his professional plate, how does Ian find time to unwind? He describes himself as “a fully paid up, card-carrying MAMIL” – for those not in the know, that’s a middle-aged man in lycra. Since discovering road cycling in recent years, Ian gets out into the countryside near his home in Windsor, Berkshire, whenever he can, often doing 30 to 60-mile rides. “Riding with friends is great fun but it’s also a fun thing to do on your own; it enables you to clear your mind,” he says.

Ian sees financial planning playing an increasingly important role in society in the future. If it was seen in the past as a profession that served only the wealthy, that’s certainly not the case now, he says. “We can do a huge amount of social good across the whole spectrum of society – not just among the wealthy and the baby boomers making their retirement plans, but with younger people starting to accumulate wealth who need to understand what the benefits of having a financial plan are, and the discipline that it brings,” he says.

“Now we need to find ways of helping the less affluent to manage their lives and their financial affairs much more successfully than many people manage at the moment. It’s hugely important for the CISI to be engaging with people in that way.”