THE SERVICE

What exactly does Pillar do?

We run structured annual client reviews for the lower-tier clients in your practice. These are administrative and relationship-focused conversations conducted under your brand, inside your CRM (Intelliflo), with your adviser at the centre of the relationship. Your Client Service Managers handle the mechanics: document review, vulnerability screening, asset position updates, outcomes recording. Your adviser sees the agenda beforehand, holds the escalation decisions, and signs off the outcome. Pillar is the operational layer, not the client-facing adviser. You retain 100% of the client relationship and the fee.

Do you provide regulated financial advice?

No. Zero advice. Zero product discussion. That's the hard boundary. We handle administrative review, relationship maintenance, and escalation protocol. Any matter requiring a suitability assessment, product recommendation, or specific financial advice transfers to your responsible adviser same-day. This is structural, not discretionary.

How does the escalation process work?

Escalations are rule-based. No adviser judgment needed. We trigger a same-day transfer back to your adviser when: the client wants to discuss product change or lump sum withdrawal, the lump sum exceeds £25,000, the client asks a direct financial question, pension crystallisation is discussed, or material employment, health, or dependant changes arise. Every escalation is logged in your CRM with full reasoning documented. Your adviser has sight of the review context and the trigger. No client waits. No review continues past the escalation point.

What happens to my client relationship?

From the client's perspective, nothing changes. The review is badged under your firm's name. Your logo. Your adviser's relationship is unchanged. Your CRM. Your name throughout. Pillar doesn't appear on any client communication, report, or feedback. Client introductions make clear the CSM is part of your service team delivering the review process. The relationship is between the client and your firm.

Can clients tell they're speaking to someone different?

Client Service Managers are introduced as members of your review team. No Pillar branding in the introduction. Disclosure of the outsourced element is handled through your terms of business. From the client's experience, they're speaking to someone representing your firm. The regulatory position is clear: your firm retains responsibility. The client experience is seamless.

COMMERCIAL

How does pricing work?

Flat annual fee per client. Currently £450 per client per year. Your firm pays Pillar directly, not the client. Monthly invoicing based on active clients in the service. If you onboard 100 clients in month one and 20 more in month two, you're invoiced accordingly.

What's the minimum commitment?

No minimum contract length. You can flex client numbers up and down month-to-month. Pricing is set per firm based on your client base size and complexity profile. We discuss the right pricing band during discovery.

What does it actually cost versus doing it in-house?

A firm with 200 active service clients, delivering 3 hours per review at a blended adviser rate of £200/hour, is spending £120,000 annually. Pillar at £450/client is £90,000. You recover 400 to 600 adviser hours annually. That's real capacity. Those hours go back to fee-earning client growth, new clients, or complexity management. The financial case is straightforward.

Does outsourcing reviews generate revenue?

Yes. Structured reviews surface advice opportunities that ad-hoc servicing misses. In our pilot, 20% of reviews triggered an escalation back to the primary adviser. Two escalations from the first 10 reviews generated a combined Year 1 value of over 2x the cost of the service. The review pays for itself through identified advice opportunities, before you count the compliance evidence, the freed adviser capacity, or the retained client relationships.

COMPLIANCE

How does this help with Consumer Duty?

Every review produces documented evidence of client engagement, vulnerability assessment, escalation decisions, and service outcome. These records sit in your CRM as audit trail. Consumer Duty Outcomes 1-4 all require documented evidence that you understand your clients, act in their interests, and respond to their circumstances. Our review process generates that evidence by design. You'll have something to show the FCA. Firms doing reviews ad-hoc typically don't. This matters now: the FCA is issuing Section 165 data requests across the sector, and around 17% of firms are failing to deliver reviews to clients paying ongoing fees. Active enforcement is underway. The question is whether your evidence base is ready when the request arrives.

What if the FCA asks about our outsourced reviews?

Your firm retains full regulatory responsibility. Pillar is an unregulated service provider acting as a data processor. All records are stored in your CRM, your system of record. You own the escalation decision, the outcome, and the documentation. The FCA will be looking at your CRM entries and your adviser's actions, not at Pillar. Full transparency. Clean audit trail. That's the regulatory design.

How do you handle vulnerability?

Structured vulnerability screening in every review covering financial circumstances, health or capability factors, life event triggers, and dependency patterns. Documented in the CRM record. Any vulnerability flag generates an immediate escalation to your adviser with supporting notes. We don't diagnose. We surface the indicators and let your adviser decide the response and escalation pathway. Your adviser owns the vulnerability decision entirely.

OPERATIONS

What CRM systems do you work with?

Currently Intelliflo. We're expanding to other platforms as demand requires. If you're on a different system, discuss during discovery whether we're on your roadmap.

How long does onboarding take?

Typically 4 to 6 weeks from firm assessment to first reviews going live. Six-stage process: firm assessment and discovery, CRM integration and data mapping, Client Service Manager certification on your processes and policies, controlled wave launch with 50 to 100 clients, feedback and iteration, scale to full client population. You're in control of pace. Most firms choose a staggered approach rather than all-at-once.

What qualifications do your Client Service Managers have?

Trained in Pillar's review methodology, vulnerability assessment, escalation protocols, and your firm's specific processes and adviser preferences. Not regulated financial advisers. That's deliberate. We're operationalising your review process, not making advice decisions. Your advisers make the judgement calls. Our team executes the process.

What management information do I receive?

Monthly reporting covering review completion rates by adviser, escalation volumes and categories, vulnerability flags raised, service outcomes recorded, and adviser hours recovered. You see patterns across your client base. You see where escalations cluster. You see which client segments are flagging vulnerability. Data actionable enough to drive your service strategy, not just a compliance checkbox.

DATA AND SECURITY

Is my client data secure?

Pillar is a data processor under GDPR. Your firm remains the data controller. Client data never leaves your CRM environment. We don't maintain separate databases or shadow systems. Access is logged and controlled. Full Data Processing Addendum in place. Standard institutional security controls. Your IT team can audit our access controls. No data risk above what you already accept with your CRM provider.

Do you store client data on your own systems?

No. All activity is recorded directly in your firm's CRM. Client records, review outcomes, escalation notes, vulnerability assessments. All of it goes into your Intelliflo instance. Pillar maintains no separate client databases, no shadow records, no secondary storage. Your CRM is the system of record. Your audit trail. Your control.

GETTING STARTED

How do I know if Pillar is right for my firm?

Ask yourself: do you have 100-plus ongoing service clients below your direct adviser delivery threshold? Are reviews overdue or consuming disproportionate adviser time? Do you want a structured, compliant alternative to ad-hoc review? Are you concerned about Consumer Duty evidence? If yes to those, it's worth a conversation. If your firm is sub-£200m or heavily reliant on advice-led service, the model might not suit. We'll be honest about fit.

What does a discovery call involve?

Thirty minutes. We'll discuss your client base composition, your current review model (if one exists), your CRM setup, what's driving the decision to outsource, and your operating constraints. We'll ask about adviser preferences and escalation thresholds. No hard sell. If the model fits your firm, we'll explain onboarding and next steps. If it doesn't, we'll tell you directly. Not every firm is a fit.

Can I start with a small number of clients?

Yes. Most firms start with a controlled wave of 50 to 100 clients before scaling. Pick clients that are straightforward: ongoing service, no recent changes, clear vulnerability position. Run the process. Gather feedback from your advisers. Iterate. Then scale. This de-risks the decision and lets you see the process in action before committing your whole book.

Ready to see if Pillar fits your firm? Book a 30-minute discovery call to discuss whether Pillar fits your firm and your client base.