Independent, whole-of-market advice built around what you are actually trying to do.
The plan the rest of it hangs off
Most people arrive with a product question — a pension they were sold, an ISA they are unsure about, a lump sum sitting in cash. The useful work usually starts one step back: what the money is for, when it is needed, and what would have to go wrong for the plan to fail. Only then does the product question have a right answer. Being independent means advising across the whole of the market rather than from one provider’s shelf, and saying so in writing.
Typical matters
Who we act for
People approaching a decision they cannot easily undo — selling a business, taking a pension, receiving an inheritance — and people who simply want one coherent view of arrangements that have accumulated over twenty years with nobody looking at them together.
Speak to an adviserIn more detail
Almost everyone arrives with a product in hand. A pension from a previous employer, an ISA opened in a hurry before a tax year ended, a lump sum sitting in a current account because no decision felt safe. The question is always some version of "is this any good?", and it cannot be answered in that form, because good depends entirely on what the money is supposed to do.
So the first work is not product analysis. It is establishing what the money is for, when each part of it is needed, and what would have to happen for the plan to fail. A portfolio that is excellent for someone retiring in twenty years is unsuitable for someone buying a house in two. Once those facts exist, most product questions answer themselves, and some of them turn out not to matter.
Independent advice means advising across the whole of the relevant market rather than from a restricted range, and being paid by the client rather than by a provider. That distinction is worth checking with anyone you take advice from, because the label is specific and not every firm offering financial advice meets it.
The practical consequence is that the recommendation is not constrained by what happens to be on a particular shelf, and that we have no reason to prefer one provider over another beyond cost and suitability. It also means the fee is visible. You should be able to see exactly what you are paying, to whom, and for what — and if you cannot, that is worth asking about wherever you are being advised.
A cashflow model projects income, spending, and the assets in between, across the rest of a life. Used properly it answers questions that are otherwise guesswork: whether a planned retirement date is realistic, what a career break costs, how much can be given away safely, whether the money runs out.
Used badly it produces false confidence. A model is only as good as its assumptions, and a single projected line down the middle of the page implies a precision that does not exist. The useful version runs the plan against poor outcomes as well as expected ones, and reports what breaks it. The question worth answering is not "does this work?" but "what would have to go wrong for this to stop working, and how likely is that?"
An annual review that opens the file, confirms everything is still broadly on track and closes it again is close to worthless. What makes a review useful is comparing the plan to what actually happened — contributions that were not made, spending that turned out higher, a market that did something other than the assumption, a change at home that nobody thought to mention.
Plans fail at the joins between life and money, not usually in the investments. A review should go looking for those joins.
Before we speak
None of this needs organising first. Bring what exists and we will tell you what is missing — assembling the file is part of the work, and waiting until it is tidy is why people put this off for years.
If you have none of it
People often delay a first conversation until they have assembled a file. That delay costs more than the missing paperwork does. Tell us what you know, and we will work out what needs finding — and in what order.
Speak to an adviserPlain English
The words that turn up in this area, written for people who are not lawyers — because that is who has to make the decisions.
Common questions
The honest test is whether advice would change a decision by more than it costs. For someone with a workplace pension, no other arrangements and twenty years to go, often it would not, and we will say so. The point at which it usually starts to pay is where arrangements are scattered, a decision is irreversible, or tax is involved.
Independent advice considers the whole of the relevant market. Restricted advice is limited — to one provider, to certain product types, or to a panel. Neither is inherently better for every person, but a firm has to tell you which it offers, and it is a reasonable thing to ask before the first meeting.
Yes, and it happens more often than people expect. Doing nothing is a legitimate recommendation, particularly where an existing arrangement is already reasonable and the cost of moving outweighs the improvement.
Less than people fear. Rough figures are enough for a first conversation. Nobody needs to arrive with a tidy file — assembling it is part of the work, and waiting until everything is organised is the most common reason people put this off for a decade.
By the client, and agreed in writing before any work starts. The structure is set out in full — what is charged for initial advice, what is charged for ongoing service, and what each actually buys. ⟦Confirm the firm’s charging structure and insert the summary here.⟧
Everything on this website is information. Advice means a recommendation made to you, about your circumstances, after the facts have been gathered — and it comes in writing, with reasons.
Important
Nothing on this website is personal advice or a recommendation. Advice means advice on your own circumstances, given to you after we have gathered the facts.
The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you put in. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
How it works
A call at our cost to understand what you are trying to do and tell you plainly whether we can help. Sometimes the honest answer is that you do not need advice at all, or not yet — and we would rather say that than bill you for finding out slowly.
Before any work starts you get the scope, the approach, who will do the work and what it will cost, in writing. Independence means we are paid by you rather than by a provider, and you should be able to see exactly what you are paying and for what.
A written recommendation you can read, question and keep, setting out what we suggest and why — including the options we rejected. Then a review at agreed points, testing the plan against what actually happened rather than restating it.
Related services
Portfolio construction and ongoing management, with the costs and the risk stated plainly.
Learn moreWorkplace and personal pensions found, costed, and consolidated only where it helps.
Learn moreDrawdown, annuity, and the sequencing decisions that determine how long the money lasts.
Learn moreA first conversation at our cost, and an honest view on whether advice would change anything for you.
