Financial Advisory Launch Playbook

Who this is for

Financial advisers and planning firms launching a practice or a website, in jurisdictions where financial promotion is regulated.

Before you start

• The financial promotion and advertising rules that apply to your firm.
• A compliance reviewer who approves every page before publication.
• A description of your advice process and how clients are charged, in plain terms.
• Required disclosures and regulatory statements for your website.

Step 1

Plan within the rules

Agree what may be published before anything is written.

1. 01List the questions prospective clients ask about the advice process and common life events.
2. 02Agree with compliance which topics are suitable for general educational content.
3. 03Plan a page explaining your advice process and how fees work.
4. 04Decide which disclosures appear on every page.

Step 2

Create balanced educational content

Explain options without promising outcomes.

1. 01Write explainers that describe options, their trade-offs and the questions to ask an adviser.
2. 02Avoid predictions about returns and any wording that could read as personal advice.
3. 03Write the advice process page so a reader knows what happens at each meeting.
4. 04Submit every page to compliance and record the approval.

Step 3

Publish with disclosures

Release only approved content, with the required statements.

1. 01Publish the process page and approved explainers together.
2. 02Include required disclosures on every page.
3. 03Link explainers to the process page and the contact page.
4. 04Add new explainers only after compliance approval.

Step 4

Measure and re-review

Rules and figures change; content must follow.

1. 01Check which explainers appear in search in your search console.
2. 02Track enquiries and the pages they came from.
3. 03Re-review every page on a schedule and whenever rules or allowances change.
4. 04Withdraw pages compliance can no longer approve.

Common pitfalls

• Wording that reads as a recommendation to an individual reader.
• Predictions or illustrations of returns that the rules do not allow.
• Publishing before compliance has approved the page.

Where Opus Rank helps

Tutorials for the parts of this plan you can do in Opus Rank.

• Create a content brief

  Record the agreed limits for each explainer before drafting.

• Edit in the article workspace: saving, versions and history

  Apply compliance changes before publishing.

• Export an article

  Export drafts for your compliance reviewer.

Related playbooks

• Accounting Firm Launch Playbook
• Consultancy Launch Playbook
• Law Firm Practice Area Launch Playbook