My Background
I initially qualified and practiced as a solicitor before qualifying as a financial planner.
I have always had a keen interest in property and in particular investment property. Over the years I was practising as a solicitor I found that friends and family would often seek my advice in this area.
These conversations would often lead to them asking me about investments in general. I regularly found myself saying to them, ‘I’m not a financial adviser, but have you thought about X, Y or Z’.
Also, around this time the financial advice landscape was changing; the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) was announced to take effect at the end of 2012. This meant that commission was removed and replaced with an agreed adviser charge and many financial advisers had to achieve a higher level of qualification to be able to continue to provide financial advice.
It was at this point I felt that the profession was more suited to my background and I made the move to providing financial advice.
My qualifications include:
LLM Legal Masters
Diploma in Financial Advice
Level 6 CFP – Certified Financial Planner
Society of Trusts and Estate Planning (STEP) Affiliate
Society of Will Writers (SWW) Certificate in Will Drafting
Certificate in Long Term Care and Later Life Planning (CertLTCP)
Financial Planning in Retirement (LIBF)
Currently undertaking the Level 6 Diploma in Financial Advice (Adv DipFA®)
How I work
Firstly, I will want to get to know you and truly understand what is really important to you.
Having an understanding of what matters to you will help me to identify your short and long-term financial objectives.
Once I understand your objectives, I will work with you to develop, and put in place, a tailored financial plan which aims to help you achieve them.
Your financial plan may include using a variety of financial products. I see these products as the building blocks to helping you achieve your financial objectives, rather than the purpose for providing financial advice.
I may use cash flow modelling with you; a state of the art financial planning tool. This allows me to create a visual representation of your unique financial situation and show you what it looks like both now and in the future. I can tweak different elements that sit inside your financial plan to model a variety of potential financial futures. This allows me to help you make informed financial decisions and is aimed to make sure that your plan, and the financial products used within it, are always on track to achieving your financial objectives.