When I first met with Dawn Walker-Bennett I felt she was trustworthy and clearly outlined the benefits of joining AFH for me and my clients. I joined AFH in January 2018. My expectations have been met and my clients are very happy with the transition. I have continued to advise my clients without the worry of escalating PI costs and now have the benefit of someone else taking ownership for keeping abreast of regulatory changes. For my clients, I believe that continuity is so very important.
I established Monopoly Financial Consultants Limited, a directly authorised IFA practice in 1992 and worked as the sole Investment and Pension adviser, servicing my client bank with the assistance of my three Administrators.
I used SimplyBiz for compliance services, but found that the constant regulatory changes and increasing PI costs became a headache and I felt I needed to change the way I was working.
I was becoming concerned about the FCA’s direction of travel and how difficult it was going to be to continue as a small business in the future. I could see that in the fullness of time, smaller IFA practices would be absorbed into larger practices.
I decided that I needed to look for a new home for me and my clients and engaged with a Broker who introduced me to AFH. I was keen to join a company that was large but not too large.
I met with Dawn Walker-Bennett, who explained the AFH proposition in great detail and I felt confident that I had found a mutually beneficial home for me and my clients. Following a further meeting with Alan Hudson at their Head Office in Bromsgrove, we agreed on a deal and moved into the due diligence process.
Since joining AFH I feel that I am able to provide a higher level of service to my clients and have continuation of service should I become ill, or at the point I decide to retire.
The move has definitely been a good one, especially for my clients. However, a drawback to joining any new business is learning new processes and procedures. To begin with I felt like a rabbit in the headlights, and I was overwhelmed by the size of the business, but I have been fascinated by the large team that supports me at AFH. They are very inspiring and a friendly group of people. The support staff make an effort to get to know everyone in the business and have made me feel part of the team. I have been able to development relationships with other advisers which has been great for sharing ideas and kept me motivated during the lockdown.