Articles

Divorce is not just a legal event. It is one of the most emotionally and financially destabilising experiences a person can go through. By arriving early in the proceedings, personal finance professionals are in a unique position to help clients navigate divorce well.

Succession planning isn’t just an exit strategy. Discover why financial planners should start planning for continuity, culture and the next generation.

Clients come to financial advisers at important moments in their lives. Nearing retirement. Selling a business, Going through divorce. Dealing with bereavement.

Chartered Financial Planner Jay Dalwal explains what financial advisers really do, how financial planning works, and why independent financial advice matters in the UK today.

Most financial professionals I know did not enter this profession by accident. They were drawn to it by a desire to help people make sense of financial uncertainty, to offer perspective when emotions run high, and to bring clarity to the decisions that really matter.

February is an interesting month in our profession. The optimism of January is still faintly visible, but the reality of the year is already in full swing.

Tax efficiency is central to good financial planning. Done well, tax and financial planning are not separate disciplines, they are two sides of the same coin.

The real differentiator will be those who understand the human mind as well as they understand the balance sheet. We are not just advisers, but defenders of our clients’ wellbeing.

In the financial advice profession, as in many other sectors, one of the most common pieces of advice you’ll hear is “niche down.”

Are we addressing a fundamental issue in hiring practices and our perception of the type of people we want in the profession?

The number one thing financial planners can do is confidently raise philanthropy in their conversations with clients early on.

Active listening puts the onus on the listener to deeply engage with the speaker. It requires a strong, conscious focus and appropriate body language.

I hope you share the same passion I have for being a Financial Adviser delivering Financial Planning. It’s about people and relationships.

Challenges facing new financial planners include more skill than experience, confidence, finding new business and career opportunities.

Can a client’s small weekly habits be more impactful than the technically excellent planning and advice we give?

Let’s not forget the unparalleled comfort that a trusted financial adviser can bring to a family at their time of greatest need

Social media presents exciting opportunities for financial advisers to take inspiration from influencers’ playbooks.

Every day, financial planners are working with clients to help them resolve their own three-constraint problems.

Whether you are into wine or financial planning, success in either field requires a deep commitment to ongoing learning and development.

Discovering what clients may not readily disclose allows us to craft more accurate, relevant, and effective financial plans.

Is it to do with cashflow modelling? Tax planning or building an amazing investment portfolio? I’d argue that it’s curiosity.

The importance of stablishing objectives is a basic principle of financial planning and is now more paramount than ever before.

If you are going to venture into an unfamiliar and potentially dangerous environment, go along with someone who knows what they’re doing

Practical strategies to elevate your financial planning firm’s marketing—attract the right clients, build your brand, and grow your business.

To be effective you need to be able to apply that knowledge to your client’s unique situation. The more you can tailor your messaging by building upon what is familiar to them, the more successful you can be.

So, as you enjoy some well-earned time off, close your eyes and imagine… if you were walking into your business in five years, what are you experiencing?  What clients are you serving?

Most advice on how to find financial planning clients is prescriptive. It tells you what to do or where to look. Yet how helpful is this?

Throughout a lifetime relationship, a planner might have many interactions with their clients. Still, I would argue that the review meeting stakes the claim as the most important.

Creating happy, enthusiastic, loyal financial planning clients for life requires you to do one thing well, and consistently. So, what is that one thing?

Niche means we receive far more enquiries from professional connections, friends, social media and internet searches amongst others.

How can we bridge the gap between all the companies searching for talent and all the next generation talent desperate to find a career?

We discuss our clients’ goals way before retirement, we should also do it for ourselves. Here is my 10-year succession plan.

Niching and specialising in divorce was the best thing I ever did and the business has grown significantly ever since. Although at first it was very daunting.

You don’t just tell your brand story through websites, brochures and advertisements. It’s done through the spoken word too. Aim to do justice to your brand every time you open your mouth.

Dimensional introduced its Women and Wealth community in 2015 in response to the growing interest in this subject from advisors across the globe. We started by asking a simple question: are the financial planning needs of women different?

Owners of financial planning firms often approach me when considering hiring a Practice Manager for their firm. Over the years, I notice that those hiring for this role for the first time tend to grapple with the same questions …

There are things about your business that you don’t know, challenges that lie ahead you cannot foresee. If you are serious about one day selling, you need to start now.

For me, school was tough! If you told me then that I would be dedicating to a life-long career of learning and pursuit of qualifications, I would have run a mile. But this is the thing about the profession, you do exams because you want to.

Despite having found his way to success largely by accident, Pete Matthew describes himself as “living proof” that creating content online can lead to great things. Increased turnover, enhanced professional standing and, he believes, it will make you a better adviser.

I get to meet someone new and find about who they really are; where they are now and what their dreams and aspirations are for the future. I find the stories of other people inspirational. If we can help them live a bigger future going forward, that’s very exciting

For many reasons my recent move from an investment focused role to a full financial planning one was quite simply the biggest decision of my career. I wanted to add more value to clients’ lives rather than just measuring financial returns.

The Flight of The Soul Millionaire, Chapter 3. A framework emerges that creates empowered people. What’s more surprising is that the same framework improves how leaders behave, how teams excel and how revenue increases.

In a remote-first world, your website is your real estate, it’s your shopfront, your receptionist, your billboard. The only visible presence you have.

The Flight of The Soul Millionaire, Chapter 2. Now you discover the ageless model, which underpins almost every story of ordinary folk who embark upon extraordinary journeys …

The journey to greater impact requires transformational thinking and behaviour assuming you want to create something meaningful.

When I was asked to mentor three future financial planners, I initially found the prospect quite daunting. How would I inspire them?

This article is a follow up to the webinar – How To Win Clients Through Verbal Storytelling.

About five years ago, David Scarlett asked me who I liked working with best and who I felt I did the best job for. I had absolutely no answer for him.

A successful financial adviser shouldn’t need to market themselves. They should be busy enough with Client Referrals. Or so I had been told.

Do you remember Mikhail Gorbachev? He was the last leader of the Soviet Union, and played a pivotal role in dismantling the Cold War.

When asked, clients most wanted to know more about staying safe online rather than market updates or investment.

To insource or to outsource is the most important decision to make. This is the efficient beating heart of your firm now and in the future.

Eight years ago, I was frazzled. I was the person with the answers. I had little time or space to breathe, let alone think!

Training I have undertaken and resources I have found useful. What’s exciting is I can ‘feel’ that I am a better Financial Planner than I was only last year.

The Power of Financial Planning is something I feel really passionate about: seeing clients journey from that initial meeting to designing the life that they’ve always wanted.

Paraplanning is definitely now more mainstream but with no specific qualification requirements nor a definitive job description, many tasks can fall under this title.

Customer reviews can creep up on you, with dozens needing completion in a matter of days. As a financial adviser, you have a contractual requirement to provide a full financial review to your client.

Shadowing two great financial planners allowed me to see first-hand the key to providing great outcomes is great conversations with clients.

A list of ‘nevers’, achieving Chartered Financial Planner status, a year by myself, giving birth and why I created my own online ‘village’ community.

Ruth Sturkey shares Paradigm Norton’s experience of planning and producing a virtual event for clients. Having all things backed up is key.

An annual client Review Meeting acts as our formal client touch point each year to review what has happened and what changes need to be made to inform the future.

Much has been written about the first meeting with a prospective client. What happens when the prospect decides to proceed?

Systemise 90% of what you do ensuring that you have the time to customise the remaining 10% that truly matters and prioritise automatisation.

Authenticity is the most important thing of all. Showing up as yourself, doing the very best job you can do, is a quality we can all respect at any stage of life.

Replace ‘Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics’ with ‘Purpose’.

It goes without saying that we’re all now more dependent on digital technologies than ever.

It’s time to rethink your leadership style; not just yours but the leadership you need to develop and nurture in your team.

How being more aware of your values and less focused on the goal itself can just create a far better life.

Respected journalist, the publisher of Inside Information and the godfather of US Financial Planning, Bob Veres, wrote about four years ago that the biggest disruptor in financial services might just be video conferencing technology.

We are in unprecedented times. Your clients want to hear from you more than ever and not necessarily about their investments.

I confess, when I started to write this article, I wondered whether ‘financial wellbeing’ was just some new buzz phrase or a phrase worth using.

Learnings from over a decade of working with Financial Planners and talking to their clients. Some thoughts for coaching clients and deeper client conversations.

Here are Jan Bowen-Nielsen and Chris Budd’s top 10 tips for using a coaching approach to increase client engagement.

In the questions and comments raised by some of the 2,000 or so people attending the two PFS Power webinars with Chris Budd and Jan Bowen-Nielsen, there were quite a few requests for us to recommend books about coaching.

During the PFS Power Coaching Webinars that Jan Bowen-Nielsen and I conducted on 28 January 2020, several people asked, “Can you suggest some great questions?” Here are a few thoughts.

Since discovering Lifestyle Financial Planning, Tamsin Caine has believed in it. It didn’t make it any easier to master. She is sure lots of other Financial Planners feel the same.

From the first meeting we create an opportunity for clients to speak and feel what it’s like to be listened to. Sometimes for the first time.

Technology will be transformational in making Financial Planning more accessible than ever before. By Anthony Villis.

Focus on achieving good outcomes for clients and you have the foundations of a Financial Planning proposition already in place.

Our aim with PFS POWER is to empower and equip our readers to change people’s lives through Financial Planning. For many this means a change in mindset from transactional advice to a more comprehensive, life-focused service.

Kevin Deamer makes a point of rehearsing what happens when the time comes for Executors to complete all the necessary paperwork.

Aligning yourself with your clients’ best interests is paramount in the provision of the best service you can give. When a desire to help people comes first, the money will follow if you always do the right thing, says Michael Freedman.

Structuring a Financial Planning business can be difficult. Applying some investment principles can paint an interesting picture.

Having recently undertaken a business coaching certification I found one of the benefits was an opportunity to reflect on interaction with clients.

Have you been in client meetings and found yourself doing most of the talking? You might be keen to share product knowledge, to show your expertise, or you may just want to be liked and to build rapport.

In financial advice, two types of coaching have been rising in prominence over recent years: ‘pure’ coaching, and financial coaching.

Our job is not just to help clients accumulate resources but to help them as their coach and cheerleader as another life stage begins.

You’ve taken on a new client, given them a great initial Financial Planning experience, followed up with an Annual Planning Meeting and are wondering what now? By Garry Hale.

Often meeting number two, the ‘draft’ planning meeting is another time to shine. It’s when life and money come together to show what’s possible.

Clients tend to seek advice when big life events come along: selling a business, stopping work, a new business, birth of a child, a new house, ill health, divorce. It’s no surprise that people often have heightened emotions that affect their decisions. Anthony Villis explains.

Prior to a first meeting, setting the right expectations in clients’ minds is vital.

Broadly speaking, six steps are considered to form the foundation of a Financial Planning process used with clients.

The stethoscope was a great leap forward for medicine. Find out how the story of it shines a light on Financial Planning.

Anthony Villis talks about adopting a Lifestyle Financial Planning approach in 2014, and his firm, First Wealth, hasn’t looked back.

The number of client meetings and time taken differs from firm to firm as they adapt a Financial Planning process that works for them. By Carrie Bendall.

There are two sides to the client experience: the actual process clients go through and the outcomes clients receive. Whilst the outcomes of Financial Planning are positive, the Financial Planning process can be initially daunting.

Financial Planners should put lifetime cashflow modelling at the heart of what they do.

Many people focus on making money rather than discovering how much they actually need during the course of their lifetime. Imagine how you would feel if you knew you had enough money, not just to do the things you want, but to help others too.

The job of a Financial Planner is 95% people skills and 5% technical skills, but you need to know 100% of the 5% technical.

Like many people I came to financial advice in mid-life, triggered by a move from secure employment status in a large multi-national to self-employment.