Member of – Cheltenham
I’m a Chartered Financial Planner, and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society. I’ve been working in financial planning for over a decade and have recently taken the exciting step of going self-employed.
I work alongside other advisers and the central team at Montpellier Asset Management, a directly authorised firm with the FCA, with some fantastic individuals that really help deliver a premium service for clients. Montpellier Asset Management have been advising clients on their finances for over 25 years and have an established reputation for excellence in the industry.
Historically, I wasn’t supposed to be a financial planner, I undertook a degree in Law and worked in this sector for a couple of years. I realised pretty quickly that it wasn’t for me and ‘accidentally’ landed a job in a financial planning firm in Cheltenham, initially in the Acquisitions team but as I got to understand what a fantastic career financial planning could be, I started getting myself qualified and I eventually moved across into the advice team.
I love my job. I get to help people live their best lives possible within their means. This requires a great deal of trust to be given, as clients share information they may not share with their closest family members. In order to provide the best advice, I have to know my clients and that is the part of the job I enjoy the most.
In terms of solutions, I advise on pensions, investments, estate planning, tax modelling, cashflow modelling and insurance (amongst other things). Typical clients tend to be individuals (or couples) with high net worth, needing their liquid capital to work for them in a way that would, at the very least, maintain their spending power throughout their lives.
There are different stages of life that require financial planning. In the earlier stages, it may be what to do with surplus income, where to save, how to make the most of pensions, or how to plan for school/education costs for children. In your 40’s/50’s, it’s often future retirement planning. Will you have enough assets to retire when you want to? If not, what do we need to do between now and then to get to that point? Or if you’re a business owner, considering exit strategy (ideally at least 5 years out) to ensure your business is positioned in the best possible way before a sale/exit so you can take the maximum benefit from all your hard work over the years. Once retired, it’s about ensuring your money gives you the life you want, and won’t run out! Beyond that, succession planning becomes a priority, and we talk clients through the various strategies available, based on their individual objectives.
