Welcome to the Accord Initiative

Know your client - fully.

The Accord Initiative is a free, open-access industry hub supporting structured, consistent and defensible client preference and suitability conversations across financial advice processes.

It forms part of In Accord’s Client Preference Programme, a sector-wide initiative designed to help firms strengthen how they understand, record and apply client preferences and objectives - across all investment pathways.

The Accord Initiative provides practical tools, templates, guidance and CPD to support good advice practice, reduce uncertainty, and align with Consumer Duty expectations.

In this short video, Directors Lee Coates OBE and Elly Dowding welcome you to the Accord Initiative: 

                                                                   

Who the Accord Initiative is for

The Accord Initiative is designed for:

  • Financial advisers, advice firms, networks

  • Paraplanners and compliance professionals

  • The wider distribution chain including DFMs and fund groups

Whether your clients choose conventional, ESG, sustainable or values-based investment preference pathways - or have no strong preferences at all - the focus is on process, clarity and consistency. 

What you'll find 

Through the Accord Initiative, you can access:

  • Client preference tools and templates. Practical resources to support informed, neutral conversations and clear documentation.

  • Suitability and workflow guidance. Helping embed preferences into existing advice processes without adding unnecessary complexity.

  • Education and CPD. Product-agnostic learning focused on client understanding, preference pathways and contemporary advice practice.

  • Industry insight and thought leadership. Research, discussion and shared thinking shaped by real-world adviser experience.

All resources are free to access, supported by Accord Initiative Partners, to encourage consistency and accessibility across the sector.

Why the Accord Initiative exists

Expectations around client understanding have increased. Consumer Duty, suitability standards and disclosure requirements all point in the same direction:

→ firms must be able to show they genuinely understand what matters to their clients and can evidence this clearly.

The Accord Initiative supports firms in doing exactly that, without promoting any particular investment style or approach.

How to get started

Use what’s relevant, adapt where needed, and embed what works for your firm.

Explore the site using the top menu to access tools, resources and CPD.