An advice team's rota has two layers. Most held drafts go to the client's own adviser, because advice belongs to the person who gives it. On top of that, a named duty adviser each day covers time-critical holds such as trade instructions and vulnerability flags when the client's adviser is unavailable.
Set response targets for both, and staff paraplanners to check drafts first.
Why does an advice rota look different?
In most teams any trained reviewer can decide any held item. In advice, that is only partly true. A suitability report or review letter should be approved by the adviser responsible for the client, who knows the relationship and answers for the advice. A rota that sends those drafts to whoever is free breaks that link.
But some holds cannot wait for one person's diary. A client instruction to sell during a volatile market, a trade the agent prepared that needs release before the close, a note suggesting a client may be vulnerable. These need a named person on duty. The head of advice owns the rota; compliance agrees which items may go to the duty adviser. The guide to AI agent skills by role covers what each role needs to know, and what a reviewer rota is explains the basic idea.
What are the steps?
- Agent, depth 1: reports holds by type and client. Review letters, rebalancing proposals, trade instructions, client messages, vulnerability flags.
- Person (head of advice): splits holds into client-owned and duty items. Client-owned: suitability reports, review letters, rebalancing proposals. Duty: trade instructions with a market deadline, client instructions received while the adviser is away, vulnerability flags.
- Person (head of advice with compliance): sets response targets. Trade instructions within market hours the same day; vulnerability flags the same day; review drafts at least two working days before the client meeting.
- Agent, depth 2: drafts letters and proposals. Held for the client's adviser, with a paraplanner check first where the firm uses one.
- Person (paraplanner): checks drafts for completeness. Facts current, sources cited, profile up to date. Returns anything incomplete before it reaches the adviser.
- Person (head of advice): names a duty adviser per day, with a backup. The duty adviser must hold authority to approve trade instructions at depth 4.
- Agent: holds trade instructions until a named adviser releases them. Trades are hard to undo.
- Person (head of advice): reviews the rota fortnightly. Against targets met and items that waited.
| Step | The agent does | Depth | Stays with a person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hold report | Reports holds by type, client, age | 1 | Splitting client-owned from duty items |
| Review letters | Drafts with sources | 2 | Approval by the client's adviser |
| Paraplanner check | Nothing further | n/a | Completeness check |
| Trade instructions | Prepares and holds | 4 | Release by the adviser or duty adviser |
| Vulnerability flags | Flags notes and messages | 2 | Same-day response |
| Client messages | Drafts replies | 2 | Sending, or passing to the adviser |
What skills mix does each day need?
At minimum: the duty adviser, a backup duty adviser, and enough paraplanner time to check the drafts due that week. Advisers on leave hand their client-owned holds to a named colleague, not to the general queue. The approver authority matrix for the advice team sets which advisers may release trades and up to what value; the rota must never name a duty adviser without that authority.
Skills grow over time. The AI agent competency matrix for the advice team shows when a newer adviser is ready to take the duty line.
Which controls matter, and what evidence do they leave?
- Client-owned approvals stay with the client's adviser. Evidence: the adviser named on the verdict matches the client's adviser in the system of record, or a recorded handover.
- A duty adviser is always named. Evidence: the rota for every working day.
- Trade releases show authority. Evidence: the verdict names the approver and the limit that applied.
- Vulnerability flags have a response. Evidence: time from flag to recorded action.
- Paraplanner checks are recorded. Evidence: the check and any return note on the draft.
What should be measured?
- Trade instructions released within the market deadline.
- Review drafts approved at least two days before the meeting.
- Vulnerability flags answered the same day.
- Client-owned items approved by someone other than the client's adviser, without a recorded handover: the target is none.
- Paraplanner returns, by reason, since a pattern points to a weakness in the agent's brief.
Where does it go wrong?
The duty adviser is also in client meetings all day. A duty line nobody can answer is worse than none, because people think it is covered. Keep the duty adviser's diary light.
Handovers are informal. "Sam is looking after my clients" in a chat message is not a handover. Record it so the record shows why another adviser approved.
Paraplanner checks become the review. Advisers who see "checked" may approve without reading. The paraplanner checks completeness; the adviser decides suitability.
Support and clinic practice teams use the same duty-line idea for different deadlines; see the rotas for the support team and the practice team.
Questions people ask
Can the duty adviser approve a suitability report for another adviser's client?
Only when the client's adviser is unavailable and the delay would harm the client, and the handover is recorded. Otherwise the report waits for the client's adviser.
How often should the duty line rotate?
Daily or weekly, so that every adviser with the authority takes a share. Rotating too slowly makes one adviser the bottleneck; too quickly, and nobody follows an issue through.
Should compliance be on the rota?
Not for routine approvals. Compliance file checks run on a sample after the fact. Name a compliance contact for the duty adviser to call on difficult items.