60 Seconds with.....Rob Clifford
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What’s the thinking behind If I Were You?
Consumers’ need for reliable guidance on financial matters has never been greater yet their trust in banks has probably never been so low. So basically, the market opportunity we have identified is based on the fact that the financial industry doesn’t have a positive reputation with the public, right now.
My fellow director Paul Gratton and I have both built up several businesses we are proud of and have consistently focussed on doing innovative things. We came up with the idea for the new business a couple of years ago and talked about it socially for months.
But the idea crystallised when I decided to move on from Virgin Money. To put that move in context I’d been an investor in businesses for 11 years and realised that a day job just wasn’t my style. But Virgin is all the things you could want as a consumer and I miss the people I worked with there. For example, I’ve known chief executive Jayne-Anne Ghadia for more than a decade and expect to remain a close friend of the business.
What services do you plan to offer?
Our focus is on mortgages, pensions and investments, legal services, protection, lettings management and debt management. As the company name suggests it’s all about giving consumers guidance and ensuring they get the advice that is right for them, which is why it has been likened to a concierge service.
We are building a team of advisers who are not giving regulated advice but are experienced in handling consumers in a sensitive way. They have a passion for helping consumers and we’re working hard to ensure we partner entities that provide regulated advice.
Your other start-ups have been successful and launched at the right time, so Are market conditions improving?
It will take a long time for consumers to trust financial institutions again to the extent they have in recent decades so this is a good opportunity for intermediated businesses that can put a friendly arm around clients in a professional manner. The market will steadily get better but it will take a long time for public trust to return. And rightly so - consumers were taken for granted and compromised.
Do you think the proposals in the Mortgage Market Review are a step forward or back?
There’s a danger the MMR will not deliver the consumer benefits it aims to achieve. I’ve monitored the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries’ reactions closely and agree with it. We must be careful not to restrict customer choice and stifle innovation in firms that exist to service consumers.
