Lowes Magazine Issue 118

LOWES 50TH ANNIVERSARY

General Managers then and now

How has Lowes changed? Asked how Lowes has changed over their tenures, Caroline says what she has seen in her 34 years with Lowes has been the effect more of external events than any change to the fundamentals of the company. “The ethos and ethics of the organisation have always been strong and they haven’t changed from the beginning which is to put our clients’ interests first. If you base everything you do off of that principle, you will have a business that will stand the test of time. It’s why Lowes has been successful in attracting and keeping clients over its 50 year history.” Regulation, she reiterates, “has had a huge impact. The Regulator often puts out several new pieces of regulation every year and the company has to adapt to those changes. That can mean changes to admin, systems, processes and procedures.” The number of products have proliferated over the years also. “In the 1990s the choice of products was limited. Now, not only has the range increased but the solutions have become more complex. This means as a company we have to do a huge amount of research to ensure we are using the best solutions for our clients. How and what we report on has also increased enormously over the years. That requires more people and more resources. But that’s what it takes to be an Independent Financial Adviser doing the best for our clients.” Dawn concurs. What Lowes also does, she adds, is to look ahead to the future and what the company may need in one, five or 10 years’ time, to continue being successful. “To this end Lowes recently set up the Lowes Academy, a highly needed training programme for people seeking to advance their career or keen to enter the profession and from which Lowes could reap benefits too, as a pool for the Lowes Technicians and Consultants of the future.” Another reason for Lowes’ success, say both Caroline and Dawn, is Lowes’ ability to innovate. In the 1990s Ken Lowes launched the Lowes Defensive Strategy Fund, one of the first funds managed by an Independent Financial Advice company. During Ian Lowes’ management of the company, Lowes has become the industry’s expert in structured products, heavily influencing product design to the benefit of investors. Above everything else, they say, is the fact that Lowes has steadfastly stayed an Independent Financial Advice company. “People work very hard for their money and the only people who know how to make your money work best for you are those who are qualified and educated in that field and who have no bias as to where the money is invested. That means they always pick the right product or investment for the client’s needs,” Caroline says. “And as a company we stick to our knitting,” adds Dawn. “We are there to help our clients through the various stages of life, investing their money, planning for retirement and passing on of wealth to the next generation. It’s what we do best.”

How Caroline and Dawn joined Lowes Caroline has been with the company for 34 years. She joined Lowes in February 1987 starting as the assistant to the investment manager at the time, Melvyn Bell. “I’ve been lucky enough to grow with the company,” “There’s a satisfaction in getting the job done and moving on to the next challenge and working out how you’re going to solve that,” she says. “Exactly,” says Caroline. “Problem solving!” Challenges and satisfactions Asked what is the biggest challenge and what is the most enjoyable aspect of the General Manager role, Caroline and Dawn laugh and concur, it is the same answer: People. “A company is its people,” Caroline says. “So you will spend a large proportion of your time dealing with people; finding solutions to the problems they bring to you but also seeing them develop and grow as they stay with the company.” In an ever growing company, Dawn adds, it is also about keeping an eye on the bigger picture and stepping in to provide support and make decisions where needed.

CONTINUING THE CELEBRATION OF OUR 50TH anniversary, journalist Rob Kingsbury spoke to Caroline Robinson and Dawn McDonald, Lowes’ General Managers in the 1990s and now, about what the role entails, and how the company and the job have changed over the years. The obvious opening question to start the conversation with Caroline and Dawn is to ask what exactly the role of General Manager entails. “If I had to write the job description for the General Manager role in the early 1990s it would be: ‘To communicate with the Managing Director all the issues that could affect the operation of the company,’ says Caroline, General Manager at the company from 1993 to 2003 and now a non-executive director on the Lowes board. “But in a nutshell it is problem solving. Independent Financial Advice is a people business that is highly regulated and constantly changing, which means there is always something new to deal with and new ways of working which have to be incorporated into the business.” Day-to-day in the 1990s, that meant making sure that the business had everything it needed to function and every department the resources to operate, she says. “As a small company that meant being very hands on. When we needed a Fire Certificate, I had to find out how we went about doing that and ensuring all the necessary work was done so we got the certificate. When we moved offices it meant shifting furniture. It meant mucking in.” It also required having a good knowledge of the financial services profession and the bigger picture. “I’d be looking at the latest developments, particularly in terms of technology, and thinking about where the trends were headed and what that meant for Lowes as a company, the direction we had to take to ensure we both improved and progressed. “Of course, then I had to persuade people that it was the right way to go,” she adds with a smile. The GM role now So, is the role any different in 2021? “Likewise, primarily I’m supporting the Managing Director, Ian Lowes, in the running of the business,” says Dawn. “For me, the role is about the three Ps: Personnel, Projects and Problems/decisions. “In 2021 Lowes is a much larger and growing company, which can bring its own problems but also provide solutions. I’m lucky in that we have good departmental managers who tend to come to me with options not just problems. It’s working through what are the best solutions and making decisions that are the best for the company and its clients. “For example, when we’re working on tax year end it can generate a lot more work for certain teams. Being larger we can bring in people from other departments to help out and keep things running smoothly for our clients. We have a good team ethos and that helps.” With over 90 people associated with Lowes, the personnel aspect has become a big part of the role, Dawn says. “As a growing company, recruitment and selection is an important part of what I do, as well as general personnel oversight.”

she says. “When I joined it was a small business, with just five Consultants and about the same number of support staff. I always loved solving problems and what was great about working in Lowes was that Ken Lowes, who was Managing Director at the time, let us have the freedom that if we saw something that could be changed to improve the business, we were empowered to do it.”

In 1993 Ken established a London office and moved to the capital, which was when he appointed Caroline as GM, holding the position until 2003 when she retired from working day-to- day and became a non-executive member of the board. Dawn joined Lowes in 2016 after working for some of the large companies in the profession, including Skandia and Brewin Dolphin. “I’d dealt with Lowes in my previous roles and in 1995 I joined the Lowes admin team on a night out, where, in fact, I met my husband to be, who was working in the Lowes technical department at the time,” she says. However, it was in 2016 that hearing about the General Manager opportunity, Dawn applied to join the company. “Obviously, I knew Lowes, its history and the reputation of the firm and with my experience I knew it was a role that would suit me well. I’ve not looked back since.”

From the project perspective, she adds, “the financial services profession is highly regulated and financial advice in particular, which means there is always some change coming around the corner.” 2018 proved an especially busy year for projects, as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect, along with MiFID II, which was a specific set of regulations affecting the investment industry and investment advice. Both EU directives. “Putting all the necessary processes and procedures into place was about co-ordination and making sure everyone knew how the new rules would affect their role and what their responsibilities were going forward,” Dawn says. As with Caroline in the 1990s, Dawn says the job also is very hands on. “It’s been particularly so during Covid and lockdown as I’ve been one of the skeleton staff who have come into the office. It’s been very much a multi-tasking role, doing what needs to be done, whatever it is, on a day-to-day basis.”

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Do you know someone who would benefit from our investment management or other financial planning services? We would of course welcome any such referrals and to mark our 50 years in business, we have pledged to donate up to £50,000 to charity. Therefore, if your referral becomes a client of Lowes we will donate £50 to a chosen charity on their behalf, £50 on your behalf and a further £50 donation on behalf of Lowes – a total of £150 per referral! Please feel free to contact us on Contact@Lowes.co.uk, or reach out to our marketing team on 0191 281 8811 and advise them of any new client referrals.

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