Wealth & finance International - Wealth & Money Management Awards 2017

www.wealthandfinance-intl.com 7 Best Financial Planning Firm 2017 - England Hartey Wealth Management Limited is a dedicated financial planning firm providing clear, unbiased and independent financial advice and active investment management to businesses and personal clients throughout Shropshire, Mid Wales and Cheshire. Chairman, Karl Hartey talks us through the firm and the services it offers. Company: Hartey Wealth Management Limited Contact: Charlotte Hampson Contact Email: [email protected] Address: 9-11 Salop Rd, Oswestry, SY11 2NR, UK Phone: 01691 654613 Hartey Wealth Management offers a wide range of services, specialising in retirement and estate planning. Additionally, the firm also supports commercial clients, providing investment portfolios tailored to meet their needs, as well as directorship and protection solutions. Karl explains what makes his firm stand out from the crowd and how it works to ensure clients always receive the highest standard of service. “Our firm’s philosophy is that the client always comes first, and as such we aim to support them throughout every stage of the investment process. Getting financial advice is not a decision to be taken lightly so it is important we are on hand to offer a professional, clear and tailored service. We want to wow our clients at every opportunity to showcase our talent and make them feel supported, but ultimately we want to reinforce the trust so that they can believe that we will invest their money wisely and ethically. We are selective when it comes to clients so that we know that we can provide them with the service they need, just like they choose us. If we know from the outset that a relationship is not going to work, we do not force it – we like to build trusting and respectful relationships with a select client base.” Central to providing good service is providing good staff, therefore Karl is dedicated to supporting his employees at all times, as he explains. “To ensure the team are all fully equipped to provide the best possible service to our clients we have firm processes in place and everyone is trained to work with each other as well as speak to our clients in a professional manner. Our internal culture is to ensure the team all work together in solidarity which is why we hold weekly team meetings and take time out to partake in quarterly team building sessions. Alongside this staff fulfilment is key, as we are firm believers that a happy team are a productive and thriving team.” With regards to the challenges and developments within the wider financial services sector Karl believes that Hartey Wealth Management has the expertise and experience to support its clients in this ever evolving space. “Within the wider market we are finding that more and more people are being drawn in by internet buying hubs and Robo advice. We believe WM170001 that if we keep our fees for transactions as competitive as possible and have a minimum invested amount of £200k, our clients will value having a personal relationship with a real person, who will take the time to care and provide leadership and direction to help in achieving their goals and aspirations. “As we look ahead, we are expecting to see a number of further developments across the financial services sector, most of which focus on the transparency of charges, especially in the restricted sector market. They will need to fall into line with other areas of the market, which means we’re likely to see pressure on fees, especially extra fees. When an adviser uses a discretionary fund manager this can effectively double the extra fees. We see this being stopped sometime soon, however we feel we have adapted to this early, being transparent with fees from the outset, resulting in increased turnover, profit and client numbers.” Looking back on the past year and optimistic about the firm’s future Karl shares his thoughts on winning the award and how his firm will build upon this achievement to create a bright and prosperous future. “Winning this award is a huge achievement, and although I know our team work hard to provide our clients with a first-class service, it’s great to see that it is being noticed elsewhere too. Our firm has increased both turnover in new business and also the assets under management by over 30% in the last 12 months. The introduction of our new trademarked services such as, Second Opinion Service, Charge Comparison, Risk Ladder, Our Model Portfolios and Wealth Management programme have helped to attract many new clients.” “Moving forward, growth remains a key focus for our firm and we are keen to conduct this organically in order for us to maintain the level of service which we pride ourselves on. We believe that supporting a limited number of clients ensures that they receive the individual attention they deserve, and as such we are looking to raise the minimum investment in our portfolios rather than increase our client base. This strategy will provide us with a number of exciting opportunities which we look forward to taking advantage of.”