About Pillar CS
Built by someone who sold to IFAs for 25 years
Pillar exists because the annual review model is broken for long-tail clients. I spent my career working with adviser firms. I saw the problem from the outside. Now I am solving it from the inside.
The founder
Brian McLaughlin
I have spent 25 years in UK financial services sales and distribution. I built distribution teams, grew assets under management, and worked with hundreds of IFA firms across the country.
At Rathbones I grew AUM from £200M to £1.1B through intermediary relationships. At Octopus Investments I led national sales. In every role, I saw the same structural problem: firms charging ongoing fees to clients they could not commercially review.
Consumer Duty made the problem urgent. CP26/10 will make it existential. Firms need a way to evidence annual reviews for every client, not just the top 20%. That is what Pillar does.
I built Pillar inside a live IFA firm with 578 clients. We proved the model works. 90% of reviews need no adviser involvement. The 10% that do get escalated generate revenue. The firm retains its fees, meets its obligations, and frees its advisers for high-value work.
Career
Founder
Pillar Client Services · 2025 – present
Built and launched an outsourced annual review service for UK IFA firms. Live pilot with 578 clients. Per-review pricing, no platform, no disruption.
Head of Sales
Octopus Investments · Previous
Led national sales and distribution for one of the UK's largest specialist investment managers.
Business Development Director
Rathbones · Previous
Grew assets under management from £200M to £1.1B. Built and led the intermediary distribution function.
Why this exists
The maths does not work for most firms
The cost problem
An adviser earning £150 per hour cannot spend 90 minutes reviewing a client who generates £400 per year. The unit economics are negative. So firms skip the review, keep the fee, and hope nobody notices.
The regulatory problem
Consumer Duty requires firms to evidence the value they deliver. CP26/10 proposes linking ongoing charges to annual review completion. Firms that cannot evidence reviews face losing the right to charge. The clock is ticking.
Want to talk about your long-tail clients?
I will walk you through how Pillar works, what the pilot proved, and whether it fits your firm. No pitch deck. Just a straight conversation.
Book a call