She said she is actively “looking at the business benefits of diversity”.
It is an issue she wants to address in her first few months in the new role, as is the march of technology, or robo-advice, which she described as having the potential to be an "enabler", specifically for SMEs in the adviser space, but she said she empathises with some adviser fears that technology has the potential to "kill them off".
Ms Field was quick to move in to allay other fears on the representation of advisers within a merged industry body, a gripe she is aware she will have to deal with. To that extent, she said one of her first initiatives after the vote will be to establish a “financial planning and advice committee, which will be made up of financial advisers”.
She added: “We couldn’t say we were a trade association if we didn’t listen to all our members. We’re not going to shoehorn everyone into one room and say you’ve all got to work together, it doesn’t work like that. That’s not the way we are going to achieve all that we need to achieve.”
Leading from the front can often lead to allegations of being “formidable” or even pushy, but Ms Field does have a self-deprecating side.
When asked about doubts leading up to the proposed merger, she started to laugh, and said: "I’d be lying that if at midnight, after a really long day, and I’ve not had a break for a while and I’ve been working all weekends, I’d be lying if at some stage or another I didn’t think, you know what – really? Or as my daughter would say 'whatever'.
“But the whole point in the first place was that strategically it made absolute sense to do it. It was a win-win on both sides."
With that, our time was up and she had to get on with what you would expect is a substantially increased schedule since the merger announcement. Ms Field was well aware that announcing a merger was the easy part; it is the execution that presents the difficulties.
“Come and ask me again in six months time and I’ll tell you if I’ve had an 'oh my God' moment,” she levelled as a parting shot. Financial Adviser might take her up on that offer.
Mark Banham is a freelance journalist
Liz Field
Career highlights
2014-present
Chief executive, Wealth Management Association
