Diary of an adviser: David Gibb

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Diary of an adviser: David Gibb

Pizzas, pendolinos and plenty of pensions advice make up this financial planner’s busy week

Monday

After the usual Monday morning ritual of getting my two daughters to school with all the required sports kits, I get to the office and call a long distance client for a review of his portfolio. It turns out that after a short retirement he has found a job on a significant salary of £600,000 a year.

His pension contributions will push him over the tapered annual allowance, so I calculate his available carry forward to ensure he does not incur a tax charge.

After lunch I have an initial meeting with a potential new client, via a referral, who has realised self-managing on an execution-only basis is not the best solution for his money.

It turns out that although he describes himself as a balanced investor, he is invested 80 per cent in global equities, plus a chunk in Neil Woodford.

Tuesday

After some email catch-ups, I drive the length of the M56 to meet the new HR director of a large corporate client.

Following some recent acquisitions and corporate restructuring I have obtained terms for a new group life scheme, replacing the four previous schemes. As combining the schemes has resulted in an annual saving just shy of £10,000, the director is happy to proceed.

That meeting is then followed with a meeting with the HR director’s predecessor, who is recently retired and requires advice on consolidating his defined contribution pensions into a flexi-access contract.

The afternoon involves client calls and numerous emails, before heading to my partner’s house to prepare dinner.

Wednesday

It is a very early start today as I am off to London to see one of my larger clients to discuss their pensions and to present my findings following our initial meeting.

While on the train down I finish another client’s cash flow plan as they sent me detailed expenditure figures overnight.

Although the Virgin Pendolino does a tasty bacon roll, the WiFi leaves much to be desired, which means online work can be rather frustrating – a catch-up on markets via the FT is always a good fallback when the WiFi disappears.

The meeting goes well and I am back on the train to Liverpool Lime St by early afternoon. After writing up my notes from the meeting I catch up on some ethical CPD.

My partner and I go for a walk after dinner as it is a glorious evening.

Thursday

After traversing the M53 in the morning I meet with an investment manager in preparation of our upcoming client meeting in Shrewsbury.

The couple we are meeting have a seven-figure portfolio over a number of different tax wrappers. The husband has some very niche and bespoke objectives and views on investments, and this led me to advise them that discretionary fund management is the best solution for their portfolio.

Although the meeting went very well, the husband had received his annual statement from his self-invested personal pension provider the day before, and the Mifid II illustration did nothing but give him false beliefs on the charges applicable to his pension. 

Friday

I have no meetings today, so use my time to provide clients with updates on their portfolios, and to chase up outstanding cases. I also go to Pizza Hut for their lunchtime buffet.

David Gibb is chartered financial planner at Quilter Private Client Advisers

If you would like to write a week in your life as a financial  adviser, please contact:  melanie.tringham@ft.com