Born in the autumn following Euro 96, only leaving full time education in 2015 and largely dodging the minefield of the ’08 financial crisis, I came into the profession at a very ‘rosy’ time.
When I joined Informed Choice; regulation and scrutiny in the profession was firm and fair, the Retail Distribution Review of 2012 had removed the injustices of the commission fee basis and pension freedoms were brand new, causing a seismic shift in the way many consumers chose to access their pension benefits.
Given these changes, I never knew an advice sector littered with sharks and pot holes as it once was.
Instead, I find myself in a profession that; prides itself on offering high standards of advice, genuinely cares about people’s individual needs and focuses on helping people navigate their financial futures rather than selling them a product ‘for the now’.
So that’s why I’m here. I care about the clients I work for, I want to help you navigate the intricacies of your financial futures and know that the only way to do this is to provide the highest standard of independent financial advice.
The need for financial advice is not one that will decline in the future, but instead is expected to increase tremendously. As millennials, we find ourselves at the bottom of a financial mountain, both metaphorically and intellectually.
With more people using pioneering ways to make self-employment work for them, it’s an exciting time to be young. Take ‘social media influencers’, who manage to build a brand, a lifestyle and a living through the utilisation of new technology and a desire for freedom. Whilst they may know a thing or two about social marketing they are less likely to have a handle on the finer details of financial planning.
After all, if we hire lawyers and accountants when these subjects get tricky, why wouldn’t we employ a financial planner given that the UK currently has the most complex personal and investment taxation systems in the world? That is where we come in.
This article first appeared in the September 2018 edition of Informed magazine
