IFADec 7 2016

Diary of an adviser: Paul Brassington

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Diary of an adviser: Paul Brassington

Being based in the North West, most of my clients are from Manchester, but one of them lives a good hour and a half from the office.  

I do the majority of my appointments as home visits, which places clients at ease and gives me time out of the office. Home visits mean that clients do not have to worry about finding parking when visiting my office, or forgetting about bringing important documents. It usually makes for a very pleasant meeting. The best thing about it is I don’t have to make the coffee.

Tuesday

The Personal Finance Society Q4 Conference is a chance to catch with up fellow financial advisers and network. Fortunately the meeting is relatively local and the programme is crammed with quality speakers from the likes of Fidelity International, Henderson Global Investors, Aegon UK, Just Retirement and Architas. This provides an excellent opportunity to talk one-to-one with business development managers.

Then it is straight home. The central heating stopped working at the weekend and the emergency plumber is calling back to fix the job before the temperature plummets and my wife and ten-year-old son complain.

Wednesday

Hot early start (central heating is working) for a one-to-one meeting with my manager. On the agenda is a plan to contact local children’s nurseries under our remit, to offer investment advice on child savings and university funding and to provide a pension and protection clinic.

Edward Mellor's core business is estate agency, incorporating one of the largest property auctions in the north west. At our next seminar, pre-auction, the company plans to incorporate me as a guest speaker.

The day continues with pension transfers forwarded for analysis and ends with a late appointment with a new client who has IHT issues and needs education on general anti-avoidance rules before he does something he regrets.

Thursday

The morning is busy, busy. A lunchtime appointment beckons at our HQ with a new client who works locally. A pension transfer case has returned following analysis and there is a recommendation to pass onto the client.

A suitability report needs writing and a presentation appointment is in the diary for late afternoon. I spend some time with our compliance officer and stay working late to allow me to ring clients when they are home from work.

Then I am off to chair a monthly meeting at a local sailing club, of which I am commodore. I don’t actually sail, but I do water-ski at the club and this provides a chance to keep fit and fresh air on Saturday afternoons, summer and winter.

Friday

A fortnightly financial services meeting occupies most of the morning. I have phone calls and appointment confirmations at lunchtime.

Then I receive a bolt out of the blue. I recently saw a client to facilitate access to her pensions to provide a lump sum to pay for the holiday of a lifetime to Italy with her husband. On the third day of the holiday her husband unexpectedly died.

Home, but devastated, she needed help and guidance and rang me. I set her mind at rest after contacting all her pension providers on her behalf. This falls into the important and urgent category and takes precedence over everything else.

I soon get back on track – everything actioned for the week and home to the family. It's boots cleaned before my son’s football match in the morning.

Paul Brassington is a financial adviser at Edward Mellor, based in Stockport