Our Service Principles
We provide high quality, independent and unbiased wealth management and financial planning advice to assist clients in identifying and achieving their financial planning objectives. Different clients will have varying service needs and we aim to provide a variety of solutions that will meet their needs. Certain principles will apply to the service we provide you with irrespective of the proposition you select.
High Standard Of Advice
We believe that there is no such thing as 'free independent financial advice' and if it existed it probably would not be worth paying for. Advice is either paid for explicitly by agreeing with your adviser how much they will be paid, or through commission and the charges levied by your product provider. In either instance, you need to be assured that you are receiving a high standard of financial advice for the money you are paying. All UK regulated investment and retirement planning advice is charged on a fee basis since 2013, commission is no longer available on new business.
Potentially complicated, multi-faceted advice such as investment advice, retirement planning and Inheritance Tax advice requires a highly qualified level of advice. All such advice in our practice is provided by advisers who have attained at least Chartered status and have reached Advanced Diploma level.
More simple transactional advice such as the arrangement of a mortgage or life assurance may not demand the expertise of a Chartered Financial Planner. However we believe that you should receive professional advice whatever your needs and all such work will be undertaken by an adviser with Advanced Diploma qualification.
Unbiased, Independent Advice
We believe that you can only be confident of receiving truly unbiased advice from an adviser if three factors are satisfied:
• Appropriate Qualification - The adviser must be qualified to give advice on the product or service you require.
•Truly Independent Advice - The firm also needs to be truly independent. Many advisers are now providing advice from a restricted panel of providers. If they do not state explicitly that they provide independent financial advice it is very probable that you are being sold products by a sales person who represents one or more companies.
•Adviser Is Paid For Advice, Not Sale Of Product - The adviser needs to be paid for providing advice, not for selling a product.
Clear And Transparent Charging
It is vital that you receive high quality services that are appropriate to you and the costs need to be reasonable and communicated to you in a clear and straightforward manner. We issue a service proposition and fee agreement setting out what we propose to do for you and how much the initial advice will cost. We may also make proposals for ongoing advice if it is required.
Access To World Leading Research
An excellent financial planning and wealth management service can potentially involve a multitude of different processes including risk profiling, asset allocation, portfolio construction, fund research, portfolio rebalancing, protection, mortgage research etc. No advisory firm can provide all of the research and expertise in house and our role is to collect and interpret information on your behalf to help you reach, well informed decisions. We procure top quality research services for the benefit of our clients.
Easy Access To Information
We try to give our clients access to as much information as possible as we believe that financial planning should be a collaborative process and an informed client is better placed to engage and understand our service. Our Personal Financial Portal allows our clients access to their portfolio details and facilitates real time valuations of most modern collective holdings.
Personal Contact
We recognise that no amount of financial information can replace a highly qualifed and experienced adviser to assist with the financial planning process and interpretation of the options available. We are at hand to answer any queries and place great stead on developing a close working relationship. Most of our clients have worked with us for many years which allows us to build a deeper understanding of a client's plans and requirements.
Understanding Of Needs And Circumstances
We believe that financial planning should be focused on delivering advice to address your needs and requirements rather than a sales process intended to result in the sale of a financial services product. Whether you require advice on a single financial issue at a particular time or require an enduring financial planning service we put great stead on fully understanding your circumstances, objectives and attitudes. Our aim will always be to spend time developing a fuller picture of your situation prior to making our recommendations.
Keeping Matters Simple
There can be no doubt that some areas of financial planning are complex which may be one of the reasons you are seeking advice. Our role is to try and minimise unnecessary complexity and hassle on your behalf. These are some of the ways we may try to achieve this aim:
•We will try to avoid unnecessary jargon in our correspondence and seek to explain our advice in straight forward terms.
•In many instances we will pre-populate provider forms on your behalf
•We will happily assist you in making sense of ongoing paperwork and tell you what needs to be kept and what may be destroyed.
•Should you move we will happily inform your providers of your new details.
•We are happy to liaise and co-ordinate your other professional advisers such as accountants, lawyers etc.
•Should you die we will be on hand as a single point of contact for your financial arrangements.
We provide a number of services that will be suitable for different clients. Please contact us to arrange a free initial consultation where we can discuss your needs and the proposition that will suit you best.
High Standard Of Advice
We believe that there is no such thing as 'free independent financial advice' and if it existed it probably would not be worth paying for. Advice is either paid for explicitly by agreeing with your adviser how much they will be paid, or through commission and the charges levied by your product provider. In either instance, you need to be assured that you are receiving a high standard of financial advice for the money you are paying. All UK regulated investment and retirement planning advice is charged on a fee basis since 2013, commission is no longer available on new business.
Potentially complicated, multi-faceted advice such as investment advice, retirement planning and Inheritance Tax advice requires a highly qualified level of advice. All such advice in our practice is provided by advisers who have attained at least Chartered status and have reached Advanced Diploma level.
More simple transactional advice such as the arrangement of a mortgage or life assurance may not demand the expertise of a Chartered Financial Planner. However we believe that you should receive professional advice whatever your needs and all such work will be undertaken by an adviser with Advanced Diploma qualification.
Unbiased, Independent Advice
We believe that you can only be confident of receiving truly unbiased advice from an adviser if three factors are satisfied:
• Appropriate Qualification - The adviser must be qualified to give advice on the product or service you require.
•Truly Independent Advice - The firm also needs to be truly independent. Many advisers are now providing advice from a restricted panel of providers. If they do not state explicitly that they provide independent financial advice it is very probable that you are being sold products by a sales person who represents one or more companies.
•Adviser Is Paid For Advice, Not Sale Of Product - The adviser needs to be paid for providing advice, not for selling a product.
Clear And Transparent Charging
It is vital that you receive high quality services that are appropriate to you and the costs need to be reasonable and communicated to you in a clear and straightforward manner. We issue a service proposition and fee agreement setting out what we propose to do for you and how much the initial advice will cost. We may also make proposals for ongoing advice if it is required.
Access To World Leading Research
An excellent financial planning and wealth management service can potentially involve a multitude of different processes including risk profiling, asset allocation, portfolio construction, fund research, portfolio rebalancing, protection, mortgage research etc. No advisory firm can provide all of the research and expertise in house and our role is to collect and interpret information on your behalf to help you reach, well informed decisions. We procure top quality research services for the benefit of our clients.
Easy Access To Information
We try to give our clients access to as much information as possible as we believe that financial planning should be a collaborative process and an informed client is better placed to engage and understand our service. Our Personal Financial Portal allows our clients access to their portfolio details and facilitates real time valuations of most modern collective holdings.
Personal Contact
We recognise that no amount of financial information can replace a highly qualifed and experienced adviser to assist with the financial planning process and interpretation of the options available. We are at hand to answer any queries and place great stead on developing a close working relationship. Most of our clients have worked with us for many years which allows us to build a deeper understanding of a client's plans and requirements.
Understanding Of Needs And Circumstances
We believe that financial planning should be focused on delivering advice to address your needs and requirements rather than a sales process intended to result in the sale of a financial services product. Whether you require advice on a single financial issue at a particular time or require an enduring financial planning service we put great stead on fully understanding your circumstances, objectives and attitudes. Our aim will always be to spend time developing a fuller picture of your situation prior to making our recommendations.
Keeping Matters Simple
There can be no doubt that some areas of financial planning are complex which may be one of the reasons you are seeking advice. Our role is to try and minimise unnecessary complexity and hassle on your behalf. These are some of the ways we may try to achieve this aim:
•We will try to avoid unnecessary jargon in our correspondence and seek to explain our advice in straight forward terms.
•In many instances we will pre-populate provider forms on your behalf
•We will happily assist you in making sense of ongoing paperwork and tell you what needs to be kept and what may be destroyed.
•Should you move we will happily inform your providers of your new details.
•We are happy to liaise and co-ordinate your other professional advisers such as accountants, lawyers etc.
•Should you die we will be on hand as a single point of contact for your financial arrangements.
We provide a number of services that will be suitable for different clients. Please contact us to arrange a free initial consultation where we can discuss your needs and the proposition that will suit you best.