Vulnerability and additional needs come in all shapes and sizes, from a medical diagnosis to difficult personal and financial circumstances.

UK-based wealth manager Quilter has introduced three new features to enhance the support it provides to potentially vulnerable customers.

Financial advisors can now inform Quilter via its investment platform of any additional needs a customer has, such as the need to speak more slowly on the phone, to making the service more tailored to the client.

Quilter has also launched a new customer-facing "additional needs" online support tool to help customers explore the support on offer for people with additional needs. The tool gives clients who suffer, for instance, from a medical condition, such as dementia or hearing loss, or difficult personal and financial circumstances, the extra assistance they need.

Quilter has also introduced a "tell us once" service, so that a customer only has to talk to one section of Quilter for the whole business to know that additional support is needed, so that clients don't need to repeat a request.

These changes have been designed to help Quilter provide an enhanced service for potentially vulnerable customers, while also helping advisors to manage any additional needs their clients may have.

The move comes after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its 2021 guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers. This year, the FCA’s Consumer Duty guidelines highlight the need to ensure that vulnerable customers are considered and appropriately supported so that they experience outcomes as good as those for other consumers.

Such developments come against the background of an ageing population, controversy about the use/misuse of lasting powers of attorney, the need to respect wishes of elderly clients, and work by some firms, such as Julius Baer, to help advisors be more attuned to when clients have a problem. 

“Vulnerability and additional needs can come in all shapes and sizes. From a medical diagnosis to challenging personal and financial circumstances, customers may need specific help at different times of their lives. As such, it is important that these things are captured properly and the service they receive can be tailored appropriately,” Jenny Davidson, commercial proposition director at Quilter, said. 

“Investment platforms can play a key role in helping those with additional requirements manage their finances and as such we wanted to better understand the needs of our customers. The introduction of the "notify us" enhancement and ‘tell us once’ initiative will help us to get a clearer picture of what our customers need and help us and their advisor to be more proactive in supporting them,” she continued.

“Consumer Duty has shone a spotlight on customer support in our industry and it is vital we look for enhancements that can be made to protect good outcomes. These sorts of initiatives can make a huge difference for someone when they need to interact with us and we want to make it as easy and seamless as possible for them,” she added.