Unity is strength

And what a jolly time was had as I quaffed fine wine (jaw-dropping Pradorey Rueda Verdejo), consumed wonderful food (exquisite salmon min qui) and conversed with some of the Midlands’ finest financial advisers about matters financial, platform suitability and affairs of the heart.

If only every working night could be such fun, so thought-provoking, so inspiring. If only every major region of the UK had a similar ‘club’ designed to get advisers to share thoughts and talk about issues of the moment.

It would be close to adviser nirvana, that is for sure. IFAs would feel loved and united rather than a little unloved, isolated and picked upon by an uncaring whale of a regulator that sees them as krill to be picked off at random.

The Cellar Club, formed 41 years ago, comprises an eclectic mix of financial practitioners drawn from all four corners of the West Midlands. Every couple of months they come together over dinner and invite someone to sing for their supper. CPD with benefits.

I view them as the West Bromwich Albion of the Midlands – the best team of advisers that the area has to offer by a mile. Premier League, every single one of them. Most of the 33 members (sadly, I have to say, predominantly male) are middle aged and through hard graft have made themselves seriously well off.

Some are going grey around the edges but only because they care about what they do and just can not give it up. Financial planning courses through their veins. It is a drug and there is no alternative.

Just a quick sneaky look at the cars they had arrived in to dine at the magnificent Nuthurst Grange Hotel in swanky Solihull (the West Midlands’ answer to London’s Belgravia) confirmed that austerity Britain has not ensnared these formidable business people.

It is time to support Libertatem and demonstrate to the big bad world out there that the value of advice is demonstrable

Indeed, I was driven to the venue from the train station (Birmingham International) by Tim Field, one of the country’s leading later life financial experts, in a wonderful Jaguar XJ that purred like a contented pussy cat as Tim stroked it through the gears. West Midlands engineering at its best. Nostalgia overwhelmed me – like a naughty dream about past loves long gone.

I felt like a king as Tim, hands at 10 to two, kindly advised me on how I could get social services to look at my dad’s care needs following a long stint in hospital and an unexpected return to the family home. Tim is a prince in a world where princes are few and far between.

Normally, I am asked to speak (as part of the fifth estate) when I get invited to the Cellar Club but I am now a honorary member (thank you chairman Mark Rogers) in light of the fact I have been rocking up to meetings for so (some say too) long. Honoured indeed.

All that was required of me last week was to turn up in my black tie (obligatory), say a few words in response to Tim’s kind comments about my latest journalistic awards (do I hear you groan?) and then sit back, imbibe and listen.

This time the guest speaker was Tony Peters of Due Diligence Solutions who was asked to give his two pennies’ worth to the 21 individuals gathered – 15 Cellar Club members and six guests – around the dining table.

It made for captivating listening as Tony explained how advisers should go about ensuring they do not incur the regulator’s wrath in their choice and use of platforms.

Not a pet subject of mine, I must be honest, but I was engrossed. I recommend that you Google Mr Peters because if you are running an adviser business he might well spare you a run-in with a probing regulator.

Sadly, I had to leave the evening’s proceedings early to get my train back to the City of naughty banks and greedy investment bankers as Mr Peters was still venting his platform spleen, but I felt enthused.

Good financial planners are out there in abundance and are doing a splendid job against a backdrop of great change to pensions, Isas, inheritance rules and the tax system.

Sadly, the fourth estate – of regulators and politicians – just do not know what great enrichment they provide their clients. And as many advisers openly admit to me, the industry is rubbish at demonstrating the ‘value’ of advice.

I know this is an issue that keeps Karen Barrett, boss of Unbiased, awake at night. As she argues tirelessly, once the value of advice is widely understood by consumers, all parts of the ‘financial advice ecosystem’ will benefit – consumer, adviser and provider. Too right.

It is against this positive Birmingham backdrop that I must put my hat in the ring and wish new trade association Libertatem all the best of luck in its quest to wave the flag for impartial advice.

Led by the formidable Garry Heath and backed by some of the best advisers that this country has to offer – such as Alan Steel of Alan Steel Asset Management and Alan Lakey of Highclere – Libertatem aims to have 1,000 advisers on board within 15 months. Its objective is simple: to ensure there is a healthy advice sector in this country serving a majority of consumers.

It is a no brainer as far as I am concerned. It is time to support Libertatem and demonstrate to the big bad world out there that the value of advice is demonstrable. Maybe Mr Heath should be the next guest speaker at the Cellar Club?

Jeff Prestridge is personal finance editor of the Mail on Sunday