Quilter has announced a new partnership with specialist in workplace mental health, Spill, to launch new online resources and a personal counselling service for financial advisers and their staff.

Financial advisers are facing increased demands and workload through the COVID-19 crisis, Quilter said, adding that there is concern among the adviser community over the impact of the current pandemic on the future sustainability of their businesses.

Quilter indicated that it is “vital” advisers and their colleagues are able to access the support they need to maintain good mental health.

Quilter CEO, Paul Feeney, suggested the pandemic has changed the way that people work, function and support each other, and has “underlined the importance of human connections”.

“It is more important than ever for us to take care of our mental health and at Quilter we want to make sure that every financial adviser, no matter the size of their firm, has the resources and support they need,” he commented. “By joining forces with Spill I hope that we will be able to help the advice profession access the emotional and mental health support they need and deserve.”

All Spill therapists are registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, the UK Council for Physiotherapy or another UK Standards Authority governing body. Every Spill therapist has also completed at least three years of academic therapy training and has at least 100 clinical hours under training supervision.

Resources from Spill include bitesize content such as how to approach news and social media, how to prevent burnout and how to beat daily anxiety.

“Given the events of 2020, we believe everyone can benefit from accessing support in various forms, helping us all to build resilience, self-awareness and stronger all-round mental health,” said Spill CEO, Calvin Benton.

“There's a lot of lip service around the importance of mental health in businesses at the moment, and so it's incredible to see Quilter taking the strong stance of providing tangible support for all advisors and their staff.”

Quilter regional financial planning director and qualified Samaritan, Richard Fraser, added: “The nature of being a financial adviser means you often have to deal with complex client emotions. Unfortunately some of the biggest financial impacts in your life can be negative: illness, death, unemployment just to name a few. And anyone going through that is highly likely to be struggling. 

“It’s important to remember that financial advisers are not counsellors and shouldn’t be expected to have the specialist skill set to deal with complex emotional or mental health problems. That being said, even just being a listening ear to someone’s problems can have an impact on your mental health. It’s vital that advisers have the support they need to ensure their own mental wellbeing, particularly as those tough conversations may start to increase.”

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