Peace of Mind With
Your Future Direction Programme.
Contact Us at:
Head Office: Suite 29 Hilton Hall, Hilton Lane, Essington, Staffs, WV112BQ.
Tel No: 01902 863494 Fax: 01902 863457 E Mail: [email protected]
Also at: 27 Waterloo Place, Leamington Spa, Warks, CV32 5LA
Your Future Direction Programme:
The Way it Works:
A “Peace of Mind” Life to us means looking after you properly so that:
There is Enough Money for you, however long you may live.
Your Whole Family is Safe if you die too soon.
Problems like ill health and sickness Do Not become a disaster.
You have a reliable, accessible and valuable resource that can
help you shape your financial future and keep it on track.
Our overall care and support provides Comfort and Reassurance
If you lead a busy life it's all too easy to find yourself off balance: and as a result not
paying enough attention to the important areas of your life.
It's at times like this when it can be advantageous to take a helicopter view of your life,
and look at how you can bring things back some stability.
Of primary importance to us are the
financial elements of your life, your
financial future and the direction that
this takes. But this is so inter twined
with many other aspects of life that
assessing and supporting you with your
financial goals cannot be done in
isolation of your overall lifestyle goals.
So, working with us in setting both life and financial goals helps you to think about your
ideal future, and can be a powerful process for motivating yourself to turn this vision of
the future into reality.
The key steps to Your Future Direction
Discover:
“to see, get knowledge of, learn of, find, or find out; gain sight or knowledge of”
Here we get to know each other - and this we firmly believe has to be two way, as you need to be equally as comfortable working with us, as we are with you.
We'll take time to thoroughly appreciate what your goals, aspirations and ambitions are. We'll look to totally understand what it is you want from us and why that is important to you.
We will clearly explain to you how we work with our clients and how our programme operates and can benefit you. Experience tells us that the type of people who benefit most from working with us are those that:
Value having a clear financial plan
Have identified things are not as they desire and are looking for change and improvement
Have identified future goals and want to plan ahead. Require an ongoing relationship and seek regular planning reviews
Providing that there is a mutual agreement and you are comfortable with everything at this point, we will then and only then look to collect in-depth financial information from you.
We will look to gather all factual information
relating to your current financial position. This is crucial as it forms the foundations upon which our financial plan will stand.
Invariably we have to communicate with your plan
providers — e.g. insurance companies, fund managers,
pension providers — to obtain the nitty gritty on all
arrangements you have, and where appropriate we may
also need to liase with your accountant or solicitor.
This work behind the scenes will ensure we have all the fine detail that is so important when designing and working on your financial plan.
Evaluate:
“to judge or determine the significance, worth, or quality of; assess”
Here, we put together an accurate and
in depth picture of your financial
position, which will be inclusive of all
financial products you hold.
We will assimilate your financial and life goals and present to you an initial overview.
We will consider where you want to
be financially, where you are now
and put forward ideas and possible
solutions to help to achieve and
maintain your life objectives.
The production of a lifetime cash flow plan can prove to be one of the most important elements in the preparation of your Financial Plan.
Normally, it will lead to one of two conclusions: either, on best assumptions you are able to make, it will show that you will eventually run out of money or you are likely to accumulate more and more investment capital. In either case, financial planning action will be arise.
Design:
“to plan and fashion artistically or skillfully”
Here we use our creativity and expertise to tailor solutions to help you achieve your life and
financial goals. At its most comprehensive, our plan will contain a lifetime cash flow plan,
so you can see at firsthand — year upon year - what your financial future may look like if
you start to implement our recommendations.
Your plan will be advice
led and not product
driven.
It will be bespoke to you.
It will be a working
document, so that,
together, we can review
periodically.
It will be inclusive, where
appropriate, of products
and plans essential to the
attainment of your goals.
"Ownership" will be yours as this will help you be financially well organized.
In designing your Financial Plan, we will consider and may incorporate into it a wide variety of planning tools, including:
Cash Flow Management
Tax Management
Remuneration Strategy Planning
Retirement Planning
Estate Planning
Investment Risk Profiling
Protection Planning
Further information on theses planning tools is contained in a separate
document.
Present:
“to furnish or endow with a gift or the like”
Here, we will go through the detail contained within your Financial Plan.
We will talk through with you our recommendations, the rationale for them and how they
will help you achieve your life objectives. .
We will explain both the benefits to be gained and the potential pitfalls and make you fully
aware of all charges and fees, relating to any and all products recommended.
Implement:
“to put into effect according to or by means of a definite plan or procedure”
When you are satisfied that our recommendations will help you achieve your goals, and you have no outstanding concerns or issues, we can start to put into action our agreed plan.
There may be many steps we need to take over an agreed timescale to help you get to where you want to be, or it could be a matter of a few key changes that need immediate action.
Either way, implementing changes will invariably require the completion of forms, and we
will help you with all aspects of form filling. We will liase with all parties concerned to ensure
the smooth implementation of our recommendations, and we will keep you informed during
this process.
Review:
“the process of going over; contemplation or consideration of events”
We will mutually agree with you how often to meet to re-assess your financial plan. Typically, this will be either half yearly or yearly.
These meetings allow us to look over and re-appraise your financial plan and lifetime cash flow forecast, taking into account any changes in your financial situation and changes in your goals and aspirations.
We will provide you with a complete wealth valuation report, keeping you fully up to date with the progress you are making towards reaching your financial goals.
We will talk through and discuss with you any action that we believe to be appropriate to keep you on track.
Your Future Direction: Our Approach to Remuneration:
Our typical and preferred method of remuneration is to agree with you a fixed fee for all projects and work undertaken that is based upon the expected value of the work we are carrying out.
The primary reasons for this are:
If we charge based upon time (by the hour), all the risk is yours — if the work takes a long time, you will pick up the tab.
We have the experience to price the work that we do fairly and correctly.
It is not fair on either party for work to be taken on, without knowing what the price would be.
We look to focus on the results and the value of our service, not on time and effort, which could achieve very little.
By not charging by the hour, we are constantly looking to demonstrate our expertise through spotting ways to save tax, improve cost savings, enhance potential investment returns, deliver high levels of service, save time & provide peace of mind.
By breaking our service programme down into clearly defined key steps, as described in previous pages, allows you to choose just how much help and advice you feel you need from us.
You may be looking for us just to Evaluate where you are now financially. Or, you may know exactly what you want to do and need our help to Implement this for you. However, like the majority of clients we work with, you will probably want to benefit from our full service programme.
No matter the extent of the work, we can help you.
About Us
Independent Financial Services (Professional Connections) Ltd was established in 1999, with its key personnel having over 100 years experience as Financial Planners and Independent Financial Advisers.
We are closely associated with Independent Financial Services (UK) Ltd —a national firm of Independent Financial Advisers — and are appointed representatives of the Falcon Group plc.
The Good Advice Awards were launched in 2010 to reward the very best advice organisations in the country, at a time when it has never been more important to recognise and promote those that provide excellent financial advice. We have been Highly Recommended within the Best Tax & Estate Planner Category.
We work from two excellent
locations that provide us with a very
wide geographical coverage.
Our administered office is centred at
the beautiful 14th century Hilton Hall
in Essington, Staffs. In addition to
client meetings, Hilton Hall is a
superb venue for our conferences
and workshops.
Our second location is in the attractive town centre of Leamington Spa, with this
offices mainly being used for client meetings.
Client Profile:
Our clients are very diverse and include self made millionaires, professionals like
accountants, solicitors and doctors, people who run their own business— either as a sole
trader, partner or a director of a limited company—through to individuals either in
retirement or close to it.
A common theme though with the majority is that they have been recommended to us, either by an existing client or through one of our professional partners.
Our Key Personnel:
The key personnel within IFS (Professional Connections) are:
Managing Director: Paul Gorman Certified Financial Planner Dip PFS
Consultants: John Western Cert PFS Wealth Executive: Gavin Hunt Dip PFS
Paul Gorman —Managing Director
Paul has worked with like minded professionals for over 10 years and has amassed more than 20 years experience within financial services. As an appointed auditor for the IFS Group he has a thorough understanding of risk management, compliance and regulatory issues.
He is a member of the Personal Finance Society and
holds advanced qualifications in taxation and trusts and
pensions. He has secured additional advanced pension
qualifications which acknowledges his thorough
understanding of the new pension regime
Paul has passed the IFA accreditation scheme from Resolution - an organisation of 5000 lawyers who believe in a constructive, non-confrontational approach to family law matters- and is now one of only a small
number of IFAs on Resolutions preferred register whom members can refer to for support and advice on financial matters related to divorce.
The majority of Paul's clients are small business owners with his advice and support revolving around both personal and business related matters.
Paul is married with four children – two boys and two girls. He enjoys many sports and is a very keen golfer and gym enthusiast. He is a lifelong Birmingham City fan, and with his two boys spends many Saturday afternoons suffering the trials and tribulations at St.Andrews.
John Western —Consultant
John has had a career in financial services for 42 years. His wealth of experience and technical knowledge has been shared with other professions to their mutual benefit.
His ability to communicate well ensured that he always sourced not just an answer but the best, most appropriate for clients, taking an holistic approach.
Second generation clients and long term relationships demonstrate his success.
At 18 he joined the Royal Air Force as an officer cadet and was commissioned as aircrew, becoming a navigator. He says his lateral thinking and problem solving stems from that era.
He then joined financial services and has always been linked to the independent advice sector. He is a qualified member of the Personal Finance Society, has studied with the Coaching Academy and has a diploma in NLP.
He managed SE England for the IFA division of an insurance company, specialising in pensions and tax planning. He joined IFS in 1996. He has lectured to and for professionals and also for Birmingham Education adult classes. He contributed finance articles to the Evening Mail in the IFA Promotions initiative.
John spends time both in the UK and Australia and is able to maintain and sustain a successful client base in the UK by utilising all the current communication systems.
He has worked in charitable organisations for many years and is currently in Rotary International.( He says selling 'Christmas Draw' tickets in Australian sunshine, has distinct advantages over standing in the freezing cold in the UK.)
John, and his wife Lesley, have 3 children who are now spread around the world. All the grandchildren live abroad, which John says compels him to travel
Gavin Hunt —Wealth Executive
Gavin has 25 years experience of tax and financial planning, is a member of the Personal Finance Society, with advanced qualifications in Taxation and Trusts and Pensions. He also holds an Association of Taxation qualification.
For much of his time, Gavin has worked within the Accountancy sector, where his roles included helping to create and develop a Financial Services department for a Top 20 accountancy firm.
Whilst providing a comprehensive service, his main areas of work include portfolio management, post retirement planning and Inheritance Tax issues.
Gavin also supports a team in Blue, Chelsea - and much to the dismay of colleagues - Gavin's team have had far more success than the Birmingham Blues
The greatest and noblest pleasure which men can have in this world is to discover new truths; and the
next is to shake off old prejudices Frederick The Great
Beauty is truth, and truth is beauty
John Keats