Autumn Quarterly Update: our focus during this period of market uncertainty

This month we held our Autumn Quarterly Update, and what an update it was!  

What do our Quarterly updates look like? 

Once every quarter, the First Wealth team meets to discuss the business. We recognise where we have come from, where we currently are, and which direction we are heading in.  

We celebrate wins and work on building our team dynamic, we talk through compliance changes and changes to our procedures. 

This quarter, we focused on:  

• Consumer Duty  
• Internal communications  
• B Corporation goals   
• Business Property Relief and Inheritance Tax 
• Structured products.  

What did the quarterly update say about the FCA’s Consumer Duty regulation; what does it mean for us?  

Claire started off the day running through FCA’s Consumer Duty paper.  

For us, the paper isn’t a regulatory challenge, but it does mean some changes will be made to our processes. Here’s what our Director and Financial Planner Rob Caplan has to say: 

“Some companies will say Consumer Duty is just another piece of unnecessary legislation released by the FCA. But it is really an exciting opportunity to improve the value the financial services is adding to its’ clients. We see the new legislation as a roadmap we can use to better document the goals and values which already make up the foundations of our business.” 

How are we changing our internal communication?  

People Operations Director of First Wealth, Kerry Burgess, is increasing company focus on our approach to internal communications.  

First Wealth has always tried hard to run a customer service focused business; this is a position that we would not be in without our amazing team of advisers, technical assistants, and client relationship managers. As our business grows, we want to keep this team at the forefront of our activity.  

As a result, we are working on making our internal feedback process more efficient so that the team is given every opportunity to progress in their own personal goals.  

Kerry says:

“It is my priority to help my team progress in their careers, and flourish in their personal lives. A win for an individual at First Wealth is also a win for the team”.

What are our B Corporation goals for the next twelve months? 

B Corp team members Phoebe Ellis and Peter Slot updated the company on our goals for the upcoming year, and it looks like an exciting twelve months ahead.  

These goals are outlined in four clear categories: 

1. Increasing the availability of socially responsible investments (ESG)  
2. Continuing to refine our B Corp culture within the business  
3. Becoming B Corp influencers to other companies  
4. Ensuring that our diversity and inclusion policy is delivered in a consistent way across our business.  

To reach these goals, the B Corp committee says:  

“We plan on reviewing our investment choices according to each client’s personal financial goals and values standing. We are already changing the content we create on our social platforms and website to include the passions of our team which lay outside of the world of finance to create a collaborative B Corp culture in the business. We are also working on building a relationship with other businesses looking to become B Corp Certified in order to establish ourselves as leaders within the B Corp space. And finally, we are adapting our hiring process, and considering a philanthropic focus, to improve our approach to diversity and inclusion.” 

What is Inheritance Tax and what does it mean for our clients?  

To kick off the second half of our update, in which we heard from guest speakers, Henny Dovland from Time Investments gave a talk on Business Property Relief (BPR) and Inheritance Tax (IHT).  

This talk focused on updating education surrounding BPR and IHT. As a direct result of COVID-19 mortality rates, more individuals are interested in preparing for the transfer of wealth – a process which is heavily impacted by IHT.  

Serving as an insightful reminder of the avenues available to financial advisers, Humaira Chowdhury (Client Relationship Manager) says:

“The session from Time Investments was a helpful refresher; Henny managed to make a pretty dull topic really personable by linking it to client stories. Linking things like IT and BPR to real-life clients is always a great way to further your understanding, especially as my role requires heavy involvement with our clients.” 

The fact that there has been an increase in people wanting to start planning their finances to prepare for wealth transfer is amazing.  

We feel it is vital for financial planners and advisers to keep up to date on all the options available to do this.  

The benefits of Structured Products: 

To round up our update, Chris Taylor from Tempo spoke to the team about Structured Products and their benefits for financial wellbeing.  

Chris spoke of the current market environment characterised by uncertainty. He says Structured Products can be an efficient tool to invest with tailored protection; they serve as a pathway to risk control and portfolio management.  

Our key takeaway from this talk going forward is that “Structured Products are a great addition to the core of our investment activity; they offer an efficient alternative for our clients who want to access market-like returns whilst retaining some degree of capital protection”.  

Get in touch 

At First Wealth, we care about looking after and growing your wealth. If you’re concerned about how to protect your legacy and want to learn more about how we can help ensure your family wealth passes safely to the next generation, please get in touch.  

Email hello@firstwealth.co.uk, book a video call, or phone us on 0207 467 2700.  

This document is marketing material for a retail audience and does not constitute advice or recommendations. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and may not be repeated. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.