Assessing Your Needs

We are pleased to provide further details of the initial stage of the advice process.

Often referred to as the 'Fact Finding' stage, this includes:

Establishing the Scope of our Advice

We will:

• Acknowledge and record your initial objectives & concerns.
• Suggest other financial planning areas that may potentially be relevant to your circumstances.
• Agree the areas we are to provide advice on - the scope of our advice.
• Warn you of the potential risks involved in limiting our advice to these areas.
• Inform you of our concerns if you are requesting a product or service that we do not believe is in your best interests.

Getting to Know You

We will:

• Gather factual information regarding your personal circumstances.
• Establish the affordability of any potential financial commitments we might subsequently recommend.
• Discuss, and agree, your attitude to the risks involved in the areas being reviewed.
• Establish your financial objectives and priorities.
• Consider your tax status and entitlement to state benefits.
• Maintain a record of this information in a 'Fact Find' document.

Risk

We will:

• Discuss the concept of financial risk and reward, checking our mutual understanding of the issues involved.
• Do this in a consistent manner, adopting recognised industry best practices.
• Explore your attitude to the risks that are present in your current financial circumstances.
• Provide a 'balanced' explanation of the actions we are suggesting - exploring the risks and rewards that exist in any recommendation we might subsequently make.
• Relate the suitability of our advice to any future changes in your circumstances.

Status and Remuneration

Our status as Advisers and the basis of our remuneration will be discussed as early as appropriate in this first stage of the advice process.

We will:

• Provide a document explaining the key facts about our services.
• Discuss and agree the basis of our remuneration, providing (where appropriate) a document explaining the key facts about the cost of our services.
• Provide written confirmation of the likely fees involved, should our appointment be on this basis*.

*This will normally be issued soon after this initial stage, allowing us to consider the issues and work involved.

Back to "The Advice Process"