MM Meets… Quilter CEO Steven Levin: ‘I’ve always loved solving problems’

“I think it’s meant to clear up in an hour or so.”

I’m standing on the top floor of Quilter’s impressive offices near St Paul’s Cathedral. The firm’s communications head is with me and the two of us look out forlornly over a rain-lashed roof terrace.

The photographer had planned some dynamic shots of the view across London, but the weather simply isn’t playing ball.

“I’m pretty sure it won’t stay this way.”

Some of the other companies did a Big Bang migration. Unfortunately, a few of those did go bang

I’ve already endured a damp trek across the Millenium Bridge, my cheap (and now broken) umbrella failing utterly in its task. And, despite the optimistic predictions of my companion, it looks like bright and cheerful pictures will be another casualty.

As we descend to the lower floors for my interview with the CEO — and in search of more promising photo locations — I’m mentally changing the strapline I had in mind for this article. Instead of ‘Quilter on top of the world’, we may have to go for something more appropriate to the occasion: ‘Storm clouds gather over Quilter’, or similar.

Unfortunately for me (although not for the firm), the story simply doesn’t fit the strapline. In fact — in marked contrast to the gloomy weather — Quilter’s prospects are resolutely sunny.

Looking on the bright side

Earlier this year, Quilter became the largest advised platform in terms of assets under administration, with Quilter Financial Planning already the UK’s second-biggest advice business by number of advisers.

Recent upgrades to its widely acclaimed platform include a new App Hub — launched in partnership with FNZ and aimed at improving financial planning conversations with clients — and, lately unveiled, the CashHub, more of which later.

Quite often, advisers are not interested in learning new things, so we needed a good engagement plan

The Quilter Financial Adviser School, meanwhile, continues to tackle the much-discussed ‘advice gap’ by playing “a key role in the development of the next generation of financial advisers”, in the words of managing director Amanda Cassidy. More than 500 students have already qualified through its part-time or ‘fast-track’ diploma courses, and it plans to introduce a support programme for these graduates as they enter the advice world.

All this expansion has come despite a harsh economic backdrop. According to a report by Fundscape, adviser platforms experienced an all-time low during the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, with net flows falling to £1.3bn. However, the report also made a point of singling out Quilter for praise, noting that its success derives from its vertically integrated platform, funds and adviser section.

It just goes to show that, in tough times, true quality will rise to the top. And for the man behind much of this success, CEO Steven Levin, this is only the beginning.

“The base that we’ve built is going to only go from strength to strength,” says Levin.

Our business was already in good shape, but we’ve used the Consumer Duty as an opportunity to do even more

“As the markets recover and we start seeing clients invest more, I think that our platform, the all-round quality of our proposition and the support we give advisers stand us in really good stead.”

Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Levin joined the group now known as Quilter in 1998 and has been with it throughout its various evolutions and rebrands (“Over the years, my business card has changed from Old Mutual to Skandia, back to Old Mutual and now Quilter, but the companies have pretty much been the same”).

The changes he has overseen during that period have suited someone who acknowledges that he gets “bored quite quickly”.

Levin says: “The company has been very good to me because I’ve changed job every three years. I’ve always been doing something different.

AI should allow advisers to give advice at lower prices, which in turn should help with the advice gap

“At times, I’ve been pushed or thrown into the deep end; sometimes I’ve had bosses retire and give me their job, which can be daunting. But I’ve also thrived on that. And I’ve always had good support and mentorship.”

An eventful journey

Levin started out in insurance and asset management, but quickly realised that he didn’t want to be a full-time investor.

“It felt like a bit of a spectator sport,” he confesses. “I wasn’t running a business; I was watching a business. Obviously, being young, I learned a huge amount from it, but I ultimately decided that wasn’t for me.”

There was quite a big gap between the first migration and the second one because we were learning and tweaking things

Instead, Levin moved into the field of product development: in his words, “building and designing products, fixing old ones and modernising things”. Although he admits that analysing financial statements, year in, year out, would drive him “completely potty”, he has an eye for detail that — allied with a thirst for change — has driven many of Quilter’s greatest innovations.

“I think it’s more of an issue for people who don’t like change, because that’s the world we live in. Nothing stands still.

“I quite enjoy the strategic challenges, the dynamism of market conditions. Solving problems, I guess, is what I’ve always loved. Fortunately — or unfortunately — we have no shortage of those across the advice industry.”

After relocating to the UK in 2010, Levin assisted Quilter in its goal of becoming a UK-focused integrated wealth management business with a platform, advice and asset management. This meant “selling off all the non-core parts, the businesses in Europe and the international business”, and buying an advice business called Intrinsic, later to become Quilter Financial Planning.

We’re very happy with where our platform is. It’s winning awards and doing great things

Crucially, it also meant modernising its platform — something we described in these pages as “Quilter’s epic platform migration journey” and for which Levin took centre stage.

“It was a three-and-a-half-year programme, the biggest platform migration in the UK to date. It’s a very complicated process because you need to move to something that’s new generation and that does everything you want it to, but you’ve also got to make sure the assets move smoothly.

“On top of that, advisers must be taken on the journey. Quite often, advisers aren’t interested in a whole lot of change or learning new things, so we needed a good engagement plan.”

There was also an amount of trepidation from advisers following some unsuccessful migrations by Quilter’s competitors. One of the lessons learned from these experiences was the need for a ‘phased’ migration — introducing changes step by step and bringing everyone along.

“Some of the other companies did what they call a Big Bang migration, where you do everything in one go. Unfortunately, some of those did go bang. Their call centres came under massive pressure and effectively fell over. We needed to avoid that.

Most companies, ourselves included, are looking more at internal uses for AI before we start looking at external uses

“When you move to a new platform, your staff are less productive in the first few months as they learn new things. It doesn’t matter how much you’ve trained. So, our initial phase was just 10% of our book. That was big enough to test all the scenarios and small enough that we could handle it if the advisers struggled, or the calls doubled from those advisers.

“There was quite a big gap between that first migration and the second one, because we were learning and tweaking things. But, once that was done, we did two further iterations of about 45% each to make up the whole book. It worked out well for us.”

View from the top

Levin took over as CEO of Quilter in November 2022. When asked about his ambitions for the company, he stresses the need for evolution rather than revolution, “building out our distribution, supporting advisers, enhancing our proposition and driving efficiency in our business”.

Investment felt like a bit of a spectator sport. I wasn’t running a business; I was watching a business

Instead of trying to do “too many little things”, Levin says he is focused on the “big dial turners” within these areas.

“We’ve made a lot of changes to our advice business. For example, we’ve launched a franchise model called Quilter Partners. We’ve introduced tiered charging, to allow advisers to structure their own fees, and co-branding for advisers using our platform, so they can show their proposition more prominently to customers. These are all positive enhancements.”

Most recently, Quilter launched a savings service called CashHub. As we reported in January, this is a convenient way for clients to manage cash savings alongside their Quilter platform investments, while also giving advisers “a more accurate view of a client’s overall wealth position during financial planning conversations”.

Throughout our conversation, Levin emphasises the compatibility of changes such as these with the introduction of the Consumer Duty last July, which he sees as a positive development.

I quite enjoy the strategic challenges, the dynamism of market conditions

“The Consumer Duty is really aligned with the way we’ve built Quilter. Some companies have had to make big changes as a result, but we’ve always been structured around openness, transparency, no lock-ins — all of those things. So, our business was in good shape, but we’ve used [the Consumer Duty] as an opportunity to do even more.”

Indeed, there’s no sign of complacency from Levin, who is aware of all the challenges facing the financial advice sector — from the growing advice gap (“solving that is critical for savers”) to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), which he regards as “completely transformational”.

He says: “Right now, you can make AI-created video content that talks to clients — a face of whatever age profile you want talking back to you. We’ve experimented with this, and I’ve seen the demos. I don’t know whether clients would like that or whether they would be completely put off by it. But we don’t need to know the answer to that just yet.

The base that we’ve built is going to only go from strength to strength

“Most companies, ourselves included, are looking more at internal uses for AI before we start looking at external uses.

“The advice processes and journeys certainly need significant improvement and investment to make them more efficient, and I think AI will play a part in that. It should allow advisers to give advice at lower prices, which in turn should help with the advice gap. But these are going to be interesting developments to watch.”

Onwards and upwards

For now, though, things are looking up for Quilter and 2024 promises to be another successful year.

“We’re very happy with where our platform is,” concludes Levin with a smile. “It’s winning awards and doing great things.

The company has been very good to me because I’ve changed job every three years

“Plus, inflation is on the way down and interest rates should start falling this year. That will help to restore some confidence to investors. It may be only towards the back end of 2024 but we could be on the cusp of a strong return.”

With that, we shake hands and say our goodbyes. I collect my ragged umbrella from the front desk and head out into town. The skies haven’t quite cleared up yet, but fortunately there are some bright spots breaking through.

On second thoughts, maybe that’s a more appropriate strapline.

This article featured in the March 2024 edition of MM. 

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