SBS joins up with Standard Life to prepare company for new legislation
Strathclyde Business School has formed a partnership with one of Scotland’s largest companies, Standard Life, by delivering a tailored business programme designed specifically for supporting advisers in the transition of their business to RDR (Retail Distribution Review) readiness.
Leading academics from the business school are delivering the year long programme, covering a range of modules from marketing, finance and project management to strategy design and implementation.
Effective from January 1, the RDR will impose new rules on Financial Advisers designed to improve service levels and transparency for customers – it’s one of the biggest overhauls of financial regulation for nearly 20 years.
Standard Life took the decision to build its business around the needs of forward-thinking advisers more than five years ago. The partnership with Strathclyde Business School is another example of how it is helping advisers make the smooth transition to the RDR world with a consultancy/advisory service that adds value to their business.
The course follows the academic calendar, and involves both practical and classroom based learning and activities, which were all focused on helping the Standard Life participants work with advisers in preparation for the RDR.
It includes an intensive executive education programme, with Standard Life staff attending a series of two-day training sessions at the Centre for Corporate Connections. Designed to provide a bespoke learning experience, members of the programme were given scenarios to apply to their daily work.
Graeme Bold, Director, UK Retail, RDR from Standard Life, said, “Standard Life’s key objective in the run up to RDR is to support advisers as they make the transition to their business ahead of the 2013 deadline.
“Working in partnership with Strathclyde Business School, we have built on the progress we’ve already made in RDR readiness – a key differentiator that made this course so attractive to us is that isn’t run by ‘industry’ people – it is purely the tailoring of business fundamentals that will help Standard Life support advisers while adding value to their business.”
Sandy Wilson, Head of Executive Education at Strathclyde Business School, said, “Recognising a huge change in the financial services industry, Standard Life is taking positive action to change its relationship with the adviser community, its operations and psychology prior to the introduction of RDR.
“Drawing on Strathclyde Business School’s wide-ranging expertise in the design and delivery of premium learning programmes for some of the UK’s leading companies, we have developed a programme which ensures the way Standard Life interacts with advisers is not simply compliant, but equally beneficial to both."
The 25 participants in the programme will be awarded the Strathclyde Business School Certificate in Practice.
