Andy Jackson takes you through the portal using the companies registered at your firm’s address.
This is the Altro partner portal. Your firm uses it to see which clients have a reason to talk to a financial adviser, to introduce them to Equity & General, and to follow each introduction through to advice.
The dashboard shows how the partnership is going for your firm: introductions raised, advice implemented, live introductions, and the number of clients with a reason for a conversation.
Clients holds your client list. You can add clients one at a time, import a CSV exported from the software you run the practice on, or send a client the Financial Health Check to fill in.
Press Check my clients. For each limited company, the portal reads the public Companies House record: the directors' ages, how long the company has traded, any borrowing registered against it, and when the accounts are due. It adds what you have recorded yourself, such as the owner's age and figures from the accounts. The portal keeps these records up to date on its own.
Opportunities lists the clients with a reason for a conversation, strongest first.
The chart shows which of the six situations your clients are in: high or rising profit, surplus company cash, an owner aged 50 or over, a protection or risk gap, growth or change, and an exit or sale on the horizon.
Press Why on any client to see each reason, and where it came from. Underneath is the wording to use with the client. It describes what the accounts show, and asks whether the client would like an introduction.
When a client says yes, press Add to Introductions, choose the situation, and add a short note. The Equity & General Account Manager then contacts the client, and the first meeting is at no cost to them.
Introductions shows each introduction as it moves through the stages: identified, introduced, Account Manager contacted, meeting booked, advice in progress, and implemented. Equity & General updates each stage, and you see it here.
Marketing holds campaigns to run with your own clients, and material you can send to them in your firm's name.
Learning is the Altro Academy: eleven short lessons, with the approved wording, and a short check at the end of each one.
Getting started takes eight steps, and the Get started tab tracks each one. Most of them tick themselves, once the portal can see they have happened.
Step one: sign the partner agreement. Equity & General holds the FCA authorisation, and carries the regulatory responsibility for the advice. Step two: arrange your setting-up call with Andy. Step three: brief your team on the six situations, using the lessons in the Academy. Step four: arrange team training with Andy.
Step five: add or import your client list. Step six: shortlist your first five to ten opportunities. Step seven: make your first introductions. Step eight: arrange your 30-day review with your partnership manager.
Your partnership manager is your contact at Equity & General. To register your firm, go to altropartners.uk. Altro is a partnership programme by Equity & General Financial Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.