One of the traditional virtues of private client stockbrokers was that they knew their clients and their clients knew them. It is easy to assume that, in these days of instant electronic dealing via nominee accounts, the traditional approach to investment management as a personal service was dying out.

Yet it is remarkable to see just how many private client stockbroking and investment management firms maintain a network of local offices – see the list on the next page. If anything, the local office has been undergoing something of a revival in recent years, as more private client investment firms realise the importance of having a physical presence outside London for the growing number of their clients who are based in other parts of the country and want to deal face to face with their broker or portfolio manager without having to go to ‘the City’ to do so.

National coverage
Our list of stockbrokers is a very broad one and is based on the directory published by the Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers (APCIMS). It therefore includes both traditional private client brokers and those that concentrate on offering portfolio management services – and many that do both. The list excludes offices in London, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as the regional administration offices of the sharedealing services of the major banks and building societies.

What remains is a comprehensive listing of regional offices that demonstrates how widespread these networks are. Of course, the major regional cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Cardiff are particularly well served, but many other regional cities and towns boast at least one local broker. Some of the more active private client firms have very extensive networks indeed.  Brewin Dolphin, for example, has nearly 40 offices on the list, while Redmayne Bentley has 34 and Charles Stanley 28. At the other end of the scale, there are still a considerable number of regionally based stockbrokers with one or two offices, firms that in many cases have been serving their local communities for generations.

Personal service
So why do private client firms persist in offering these services? Put simply, because they recognise that there is a growing demand from investors for personal contact.
Lee Wilson, marketing manager for Tilney, now the UK arm of Deutsche Bank, says, ‘Despite the relative ease of today’s global communications, the ability to maintain traditional standards of face-to-face contact is still important. The fact that many wealth management groups are opening new regional offices across the country demonstrates this.’

So wherever you live, there is likely to be a private client stockbroker or investment manager with an office near you. As always in these matters, it is important to find one with whom you feel comfortable, but most investors will find the process of consultation goes much more smoothly when their broker is only a few miles away.