Advice firms rely on email because many of their clients already use it. Beyond Encryption ' s 2023 survey of 2,000 UK adults found that nearly three-quarters( 73 %) had been asked by a professional services provider to share personal data over email. Among those who had been asked, 21 % were asked by a financial adviser.

Information is already moving through the inbox. Firms therefore need a clear rule for when ordinary email is enough and when the message, attachment, or reply is sensitive enough that it needs extra protection.

Where standard email lets a firm down

The everyday risk is a misdirected message. Around a quarter( 24 %) of UK adults have accidentally sent personal data to the wrong recipient. In an advice firm, that can be autocomplete selecting the wrong client, an unnecessary reply-all, or the right document attached to the wrong case.

Impersonation can be just as difficult to spot when a request fits the case. An email that appears to come from a provider, solicitor, or the firm itself may ask a client to confirm payment details a few days before completion, when the request feels plausible and urgent.

Standard email also gives the sender little control after delivery. It cannot usually be withdrawn, there is no reliable record of who opened it, and an attachment may remain in the recipient ' s mailbox or any thread it is forwarded into.

The documents that need particular care

The documents that need the most care are the files advisers send every day.

Investment and pension advice

Suitability reports, fact-finds, valuations, transfer analysis, letters of authority, and documents carrying plan or policy numbers can identify the client, the provider, and the money in one place.

Mortgage advice

Key facts illustrations, bank statements, payslips, credit reports, deposit and gifted-deposit evidence, and conveyancing details all need care.

Mortgage cases can involve several third parties, which creates more handovers and more chances to send the right file to the wrong person. Payment details moving by email during a purchase are also an obvious target for impersonation.

22 | The Adviser Online