Professional Partner

Establishing a Professional Partner business with RJIS is an exciting and rewarding opportunity to take your business to another level, with the benefit and peace of mind of our established middle and back office support and compliance infrastructure. However, it is also a challenging and demanding task to create your own asset management business alongside a mature financial services practice and as we know from our considerable experience in both the US and UK markets, there are some critical issues that you must consider.

Phase One

First and foremost, it is important that you have had the opportunity to meet with RJIS Business Development so that we may fully understand your specific needs. We are happy to meet with you at a time and location to suit your requirements, for a confidential discussion and presentation of our systems.

Phase Two

Once we are both satisfied that there is sufficient common ground to take things forwards, you will need to consider the implications of taking on a professional investment manager to work with your established team of advisers. It is critical that you find the right individual to complement your business strategy and culture and this may take some time, but we are happy to provide guidance and support in this process.

You will also need to review your current business plan and no doubt reassess priorities and resource requirements, with particular consideration to:

• Timescale for implementation of the investment management service, including appointment of the investment manager, with due consideration of any garden leave requirements that he or she may have
• Expected charging structure to clients, with a breakdown of fees and commissions, to produce projected gross revenue and assets under management by the end of the first 1, 2 & 3 years of operation
• Preferred business location, premises and trading style for the investment management service
• Outline of investment services and related infrastructure requirements
• Impact to existing business workflow, terms of business, technology and CRM software

Phase Three

Having compiled a business plan and agreed a profile for an investment manager, or indeed identified an appropriate individual, we will require some additional information from you, and the investment manager if possible, in order to complete our own due diligence and appraisal of your business and associated activities. In particular we will ask you to complete an Appraisal Questionnaire, providing detailed information about your business mix and expected growth plans. When appropriate, the Director of Relationship Management and Business Support is introduced to address any questions regarding RJIS’ services and support as well as contractual queries. As part of this exercise, we spend time reviewing the logistical, regulatory and operational challenges of moving your established client base and associated assets onto our platform.

Phase Four

FSA application process. We will ask the investment manager to complete our checklist items, including an FSA Form A (application to perform controlled functions under the approved persons regime), and provide evidence of his or her experience, qualifications and Continuing Professional Development (CPD )records as well as other related documentation.

Phase Five

Finally, once we are both clearly committed and ready to proceed, a Service Level Agreement and Tripartite Introducer Agreement will be presented for review and, when you are ready, execution. These documents will set out all charges, indemnities and obligations of the parties, including the rights for severance and termination. Specimen copies are available for review, when necessary. Once signed, the formal Transition process can begin.