How we work
Good advice starts with the right questions.
Before we recommend anything, we need to understand what you want your money to do, how the business fits and what could knock the plan off course. That starts with a proper conversation, not a rushed fact find.
Why it works this way
Most financial advice goes wrong at the beginning rather than the end. Somebody asks what you want to achieve, writes down the first answer, and builds a plan on it. Six months later it turns out the real answer was different, and by then a product has been bought.
We spend the first meeting on the question rather than the answer. We also know the conversation from the other side. Sam runs a business, so we understand lumpy income, tax bills, payroll and the weeks when the company and home both need the same money.
Four stages
What actually happens
Understand
A proper first conversation, at a time that fits around the business. We look at the company, home life, existing plans and the things keeping you awake, because your personal and business finances rarely stay in separate boxes.
Model
We put the moving parts on one page, then test the plan against real life: a quiet trading year, illness, market falls, a tax bill or a mortgage application landing at the wrong time. You see the working, not just the answer.
Implement
We speak to the lenders and providers, handle the applications and chase the paperwork. You make the decisions and sign what needs signing. The administration stays with us.
Stay close
We review things on a cycle and when the business or family changes. Advice earns its keep after year one, through the small adjustments somebody has to notice before they become expensive.
What we will not do
We will not recommend anything in the first meeting, steer you towards a familiar product or dress up a standard answer as something personal.
If you do not need us yet, we will say so.
Questions people ask about how we work
What does the first meeting cost?
We would rather find out whether we are the right fit before anybody talks about fees.
How long does the whole process take?
From first conversation to recommendation is usually three to six weeks, depending on how quickly information comes together and how complicated the picture is. Mortgages move faster because they have to. Planning work takes longer because it should.
Do I have to move everything to you?
No. Sometimes the right answer is that an existing arrangement is perfectly good and should be left alone. We will tell you when that is the case rather than finding a reason to move it.
Who will I actually deal with?
The adviser you meet stays with you through the work, from the first conversation to the recommendation being put in place. Alongside them you have a dedicated administrator who handles the paperwork, the providers and the chasing, so the adviser is free to advise and none of it lands back on you.
Start with a conversation.
Tell us briefly what prompted you to look. One of the team will call you back to arrange a first meeting.
Most of that is time you would otherwise spend yourself. The comparing, the forms that arrive twice, the phone calls that go nowhere. Your hours have a value even when nobody invoices you for them, and handing those particular hours to us is a large part of what you are buying.
The same approach runs through everything we do, whether the work is financial planning, a mortgage, or the cover that sits behind both. If you would rather start with numbers than a conversation, the calculators are free and take a minute.