Financial Adviser Service Awards 2020

Find out which companies provided advisers with the best service during this unusual year

Welcome to the Financial Adviser Service Awards 2020

A lot can happen in 30 years.

In 1990, we saw the reunification of East and West Germany and the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope.

We also saw the creation of the Financial Adviser Service Awards and, 30 years on, the awards are as important today as they have ever been in showcasing the best of the best, as voted for by financial advisers.

During what has been one of the most challenging years in living memory for every nation on earth, companies have risen to the occasion by upping their service game.

Advisers have spoken of the excellent service offered to them and their clients despite the pandemic and the consequent lockdown, judging companies on their processes, their speed and efficiency, and their commitment to the client experience.

Many companies worked round the clock to ensure transactions were as seamless as possible, even with staff working from home, and coming up with ways to make sure that technology could deliver the very best possible client outcomes even while working remotely.

The 30th anniversary Financial Adviser Service Awards, therefore, celebrate not only the hard work companies have put in, year after year, but also highlight the extraordinary efforts put in by every five-star winner in 2020 to overcome the hurdles presented by Covid-19.

While there was no lavish, in-person event taking place in the historic Natural History Museum as in years past, the virtual events webinar proved a fitting celebration of outstanding achievement, with award-winning comedian Shappi Khorsandi taking us through the night's winners.

To help celebrate our 30th awards anniversary, Financial Adviser also created three new categories: Discretionary Fund Management; Platforms; and Back Office and Support Services.

We also created a sub-category of Cash Investments and, for this special awards year, created a one-off Editor's Achievement Award for the company which, in the advisers' opinion, has done the most over the longest period of time to show consistent top-class service.

One might be forgiven for thinking that, in an extraordinary year, ordinary or even mediocre levels of service are to be expected. Not so for the companies getting their well-deserved five stars.

During the most darkest times, the stars shine even more brightly and it is with great pleasure that Financial Adviser can announce the five-star winners of our 30th anniversary awards.

Simoney Kyriakou, editor of Financial Adviser