The 4 Cs - Competence…

Why is competence a core pillar of our business - isn’t it a given?

Welcome to our new mini series of articles that takes you through the four Cs – Competence, Convenience, Coaching and Continuity – that form the foundations of everything we do for our clients here at Engage.

This issue, we’re shining a light on ‘Competence’. Competence is “the ability to do something well” and it is particularly important in the competitive world of financial advisers. There’s no getting away from the fact that most advisory firms will offer broadly similar services, but it’ll be their competence that makes them stand out from the crowd. It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it,, someone once said.

We have a very young team in the advice world but between us we have decades of experience. In addition, we think it is important to recognise that Sam is a chartered financial planner, Toby is a CFP (certified financial planner), and Emily is well on her way to also being chartered. This means that we have made a very firm commitment to offer only the highest level of professionalism in our field and give our clients – especially new ones - the reassurance they need that we’re going to do our very best for them.

We also have a shared goal to repay the confidence our clients have in us through our commitment to impartiality, simplicity and fairness. We understand the importance of looking after people’s life savings and being there for them through life ups and downs. But how does all this play out with the services we offer?

Looking beyond the money.

Up first is of course financial planning and advice. Our journey with our clients begins here as we delve into the ins and outs of what they want to achieve, not just financially, but in life in general. Making money is never the end goal, the end goal is living the life that you want, it’s spending time (and yes, the money you accumulate) on doing the things you love, with the people that you love. So we take the time to really get to know our clients, to understand their hopes and aspirations and work with them to create a financial plan that will allow them to make these a reality.

Once we have a good understanding of this with our clients, we move on to creating the initial financial plan. This will includes understanding everything the client currently has and is likely to have in the near future. It’s reviewing investments, asset allocation, risk management and attitude to risk etc. All of the elements needed to asses where we are today, and how we’re going to get to the desired destination.

And finally, there are the areas that most people really don’t want to think about – tax and estate planning - but that doesn’t mean that they should be ignored. Tax considerations can make or break the success of a plan. When done well, it can lighten the load, open unexpected doors and help your money work harder for you. Done badly and it can make everything feel too much like hard work or worse still, cause the whole plan to fall apart. And while no one really wants to think about what happens after they’re gone, taking the time to do so, can also provide a sense of relief and satisfaction, knowing that your wishes will be followed and your goals achieved. In practical terms this might meaning helping families put protection in place or getting their Will reviewed or written up.

Reading this, you might wonder what else it is that a financial adviser does. Surely this covers off everything? Well, in actual fact there is plenty more. Watch this space.