How we work

Phase 1 – getting to know you

We will have an initial meeting at our cost to establish your circumstances and potential needs. We’ll ask you to complete a Fact Find which will provide us with a summary of your circumstances, after which we will be able to determine if our services are appropriate. You can then decide if we are right for you. Trust is fundamental to the relationship – the getting to know you phase is a two-way exercise.

If we agree that you would like us to proceed, we will issue a fixed fee quote and move on to Phase 2. No chargeable work will be completed until the fee is agreed. We offer fixed fees so that you know at the outset the costs involved. It also means everything is transparent, you understand exactly what you are getting for the fee, and it is based on the time taken to complete the work.

Phase 2 – review and recommendations

This is where we will look in detail at your circumstances and review all your current plans, where applicable. We will have a second meeting where we will:

talk in more detail about your objectives
discuss your attitude to risk and capacity for loss

After which you will receive a financial report which will include:

Your current situation and objectives, giving you a clear picture of your current portfolio
Your agreed risk profile and capacity for loss and what that means for any investment planning
Your tax position and how that might affect any plans
Generic solutions – showing what could be done to improve, consolidate or enhance your current situation

The idea of the generic report is to allow you to see what options there are before specific solutions are researched, thus you are not paying for unnecessary work. In addition, it may be that once everything is reviewed, the advice will not recommend new products, or any significant changes. Having fees based on the time spent completing the work means that there is no bias towards recommending new products.

Phase 3 – implementation of specific solutions

Once you have read the Phase 2 financial report and we have had a follow up meeting to discuss the contents, with your agreement, we will move onto the implementation stage. This will include:

Proposed investment portfolio, if applicable
Specific product or solution recommendations with personal illustrations
Implementation of the proposed actions

Ongoing

When completing Phase 3, we will agree on what ongoing service is required. Holistic financial planning is generally an ongoing process because things change. Therefore, we offer an ongoing service whereby:

Your portfolio will be regularly reviewed at agreed intervals, including a meeting to discuss your current circumstances, e.g. annually or biannually
We look to make sure your investment portfolio still matches your financial aims and objectives
Actions will be recommended where appropriate

In addition to regular reviews, we are here to support your ongoing financial wellbeing, including co-ordinating with your other advisers, for example your accountant.

This service will usually be based on a percentage of assets under management but can be an agreed fee if preferred.

We take our duty of care to financial services consumers seriously, putting you first in everything we do. It is vital that you have a clear understanding of both what we do and what we are doing for you. We endeavour to be clear, fair and transparent in all our dealings with you, but if you are ever in doubt about anything, please do contact us and we will clarify anything you are not sure about.