Imagine the ridiculousness of playing against the entire Welsh rugby team all by yourself. That’s an absurd image because rugby isn’t an individual sport, but rather a team sport involving dozens of rugby players, and countless numbers of support staff, particularly at the professional level. And no matter how skilled you are, rugby is not designed to be played by yourself. The same is true of financial planning. No matter how much you know about the rules, tactics, and strategies, financial planning is a team sport, filled with numerous team members that you need to work with to achieve your goals. This article will introduce you to an essential member of your team: your Chartered Financial Planning Firm.
What Is A Chartered Financial Planning Firm?
A Financial Planner is:
A professional who specialises in “determining your financial goals, purposes in life and life's priorities, and after considering your resources, risk profile and current lifestyle, to create a detailed, balanced and realistic plan to meet those goals."
A Financial Planning Firm is an institution designed to maximise and optimise the activities of the financial planner i.e. all the activities involved in creating the best possible plan to help you realise your financial goals and dreams.
And a Chartered Financial Planning firm is one that has attained the ‘gold standard’ distinction given to only a select number of Financial Planning Firms across the country.
What’s The Big Deal about Being ‘Chartered’?
The ‘Chartered’ status has only been awarded to fewer than 300 firms in the UK by the Personal Finance Society, in recognition of the highest professional and ethical standards. This is an exclusive and valuable distinction that carries weight with other professional firms across industries. It also is a way for firms to demonstrate their personal commitment to raising standards of knowledge, capability and ethical practice.
The Royal ‘Charter’ given to these firms is overseen by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). And despite how rarely Royal Charters are given out, not to mention the high level of scrutiny given to all those with a Royal Charter, the CII has maintained its Chartered status for over 100 years, since it first received it in 1912. What’s more, this Royal Charter means that the CII is obligated to look out for your interests over and above those of its 93,000 members, spread out over a 150 countries.
Furthermore, the ‘Chartered’ status also helps firms attract and retain the best staff. Talented professionals want to work for ambitious, principled organisations, and corporate Chartered status is a clear indicator of the professional standing of a potential employer.
In other words, when you work with a Chartered Financial Planning Firm, you are stepping onto the field of financial planning with a world-class, highly trained team of professionals working around the clock to help you realise your personal financial goals.
Bartholomew Hawkins are a Chartered Financial Planning Firm with high level of knowledge, relevant experience and, most importantly integrity. Read more or contact us today to discuss your options.
