“At the end of the day, it’s people powered by technology”
Sam Wallis- Managing Director
New Leaf Distribution
Twenty years in financial services has meant operating through entire market cycles, regulatory overhauls, and a wave of technological evolution. For New Leaf Distribution (New Leaf) longevity isn’t just a badge of honour — it’s proof of adaptability.
“There’s an idea called the Lindy Effect,” says Managing Director, Sam Wallis, “that says if something’s been around for a long time, it’s more likely to last for a longer time in the future.”
With a network of more than 360 advisers working across the UK, serving hundreds of thousands of clients, New Leaf has positioned itself as one of the country’s leading advice firms.
“Our style has always been about empowering the adviser,” Sam explains. “We make sure they can serve every additional need and requirement of that client. Whether it’s mortgages, equity release, or commercial lending. We upskill them to deliver a complete, holistic service.”
It’s this drive to help others grow, not just clients but the advisers themselves, that has defined the firm’s ethos. “We are very hands-on,” Sam says. “Some people like to be left alone, but we like to help them out, work together with them. We want them to succeed.”
From paper to platforms — the tech transformation
This focus on team success was one of the drivers for adopting new technology. Like many others, New Leaf originally ran on traditional methods: paper files and scanned documents. Technology was, as Sam puts it, “just for admin.”
“We were old school — scanning, filing, folders. Tech was just something that made the admin quicker.”
But over time, the team realised something fundamental: technology could create an experience, not just tidy it up afterwards.
“Now, tech is the experience for the client,” Sam says. “It’s not just a filing cabinet you fill in after the fact. The most successful advisers are those who use it to create the client experience, from personalised web pages to encrypted client portals.”
The shift wasn’t just about buying software; it was about changing mindsets.
“Change management was tough,” Sam admits. “You’ve got to get a few champions on board, people who knock your door down for the new tech before you’ve even got it. They’ll talk to their peers and spread the word. That’s how you make change happen.”
Customer experience isn’t just about the end client
For an adviser-focused firm like New Leaf, providing an excellent customer experience is about simplifying the process of delivering advice. As they regularly bring in new advisers, the business needed a system that was uniform, easily adopted and readily available. They found this in Dynamic Planner.
“Our proposition is effectively baked into Dynamic Planner,” says Sam. “So that when a new adviser comes on, it’s not: here’s a manual to learn about our proposition, it’s in Dynamic Planner. It’s live. It’s up to date.”
“It underpins our entire view on investments,” he continues. “It gives us a universal picture of risk for our clients, our advisers, and the investment universe.”
Having a shared language around risk helps align the entire network. “If Dynamic Planner says it’s a risk profile 7, that’s our foundation. Everyone’s working from the same definition — it’s uniform, it’s clear, and it’s trusted by regulated firms.”
At head office, Dynamic Planner is used for due diligence and building investment propositions. For advisers, it’s a research hub that saves hours of admin. The firm also uses Dynamic Planner’s Investment Progress Reports for annual reviews, a feature Sam is delighted with.
“When I first saw it, I was blown away. I still go on about it. It’s magazine-quality documentation. Advisers often do amazing work but can present it poorly, Times New Roman on one page. Now, it’s slick, branded, professional. Clients keep hold of it.”
That quality matters. “If a client’s paying for a review, it’s not enough for it to be a chat and a sheet of paper. It needs to represent value.”
Trusted process, consistent outcomes
What Sam values most isn’t just the polish, it’s the consistency.
“If the process is followed in Dynamic Planner, we’ll end up with a compliant, consistent outcome, one that engages the client. I can relax because I know we’re working with a trusted partner.”
That trust translates into scalability. “If I had to paraplan every single annual review manually,” Sam says, “I’d need a lot more resources.”
But, despite all the systems, processes and time saved, Sam brings it back to what matters most.
“You’ve got the technology, which is great, it empowers you. But at the end of the day, it’s people powered by technology.”
That’s the essence of the company’s success, not tech for tech’s sake, but tools that enable people to do what they do best: build relationships, solve problems, and create impact.
Dynamic Planner in their DNA
New Leaf is proof that the best financial planning networks thrive by evolving. By embedding Dynamic Planner into their DNA, they’ve not only created consistency and compliance but elevated the experience of advice itself.
At its heart, this is a story of empowerment; of advisers, of clients, and of a leader who believes that the future of finance is “people, powered by technology.”
