Valuable introductions trapped by manual compliance and weak tracking

Vintage had strong, well-run joint ventures. The challenge sat with the many other firms outside those JVs.

These partners regularly referred clients, but often refused to take a fee. The compliance burden was too high. Manual disclosure letters, client consent, and follow-ups made monetising referrals slow and awkward. In many cases, partners simply could not be bothered with the paperwork, leaving significant revenue on the table.

At the same time, Vintage’s complex structure made referral tracking difficult. Operating across multiple entities and brands, referrals were spread across Xplan, inboxes, and spreadsheets. Xplan was not designed for a referral-first view, so lead sources were hard to identify, outcomes were misattributed, and some referrals were lost altogether.

Without clear visibility, Vintage struggled to report accurate ROI back to partners. Valuable introductions were happening, but much of the insight - and value - was leaking through the gaps.

Adopting a platform that unlocks growth, supports compliance, and removes friction

RQ digitised Vintage’s disclosure and consent process, embedding “belt and braces” compliance directly into the referral workflow. Partners can now refer and monetise compliantly in seconds, removing the administrative barrier that previously stopped them from accepting revenue share.

At the same time, Vintage deployed RQ’s Compass client discovery tool to differentiate its offering. Compass allows partners and advisers to capture structured client insight up front and surface wider needs in a simple, compliant way.

This proved decisive during a competitive pilot with a leading fintech. While larger competitors were constrained by rigid processes, RQ’s agility and Compass’s user experience enabled Vintage to deliver a smoother, more flexible journey - winning the partnership on experience rather than scale.

RQ helped Vintage turn informal referrals into a measurable growth channel.

RQ helped Vintage turn informal referrals into a measurable growth channel. By automating compliance, the firm reactivated dormant non-JV relationships, unlocking new revenue that had previously sat in the “too hard” basket.

Referral leakage across Vintage’s complex group structure was reduced, with new leads captured and tracked that had previously been invisible in Xplan. For the first time, Vintage has a clear, referral-first view across entities and partners, making it easier to understand performance and report outcomes back to introducers.

Compass has also become a key differentiator. Its user experience helped Vintage secure a £[insert projected AUM] fintech partnership, beating competing Financial Advisers on experience rather than scale.

Vintage is focused on scaling what works.

The firm plans to drive wider Compass adoption through partner education, embedding it as a standard tool for needs discovery and lead generation across the network. At the same time, Vintage is deepening its Xplan integration so RQ becomes the default entry point for referrals, with clean data flowing into back-office workflows.

Looking ahead, RQ will support new partnership models with fintechs and large networks, where compliant referral tracking, data sharing, and scale are essential. For Vintage, RQ is becoming the infrastructure that underpins how referrals are captured, partnerships are grown, and value is unlocked - without adding risk or admin.