Steve Cook, Director at Lonsdale Services and member of the St Albans financial planning team
Allan Ross - Lonsdale Services independent adviser in Ware with SOLLA accreditation
Lonsdale Services win Professional Adviser Award
Tuesday 6 April, 2021
On March 11th Lonsdale Services won the Best Adviser firm for Vulnerable Client Care at the 2021 national Professional Adviser Awards. The awards were announced at an online ceremony. Professional Adviser asked financial advisers to enter this award, ‘who have gone above and beyond to make sure their more vulnerable clients have felt reassured and financially safe.’
Steve Cook, Director of Lonsdale Services and member of the Lonsdale Services vulnerable client group said:
‘We’re delighted to win this Professional Adviser Award as it recognises the work, we have done to prioritise our vulnerable clients. It follows our success in the 2018 Retirement Planner Awards where Lonsdale Services won the best pension advice firm in the South East and Anglia region for our retirement planning advice. All our financial advisers recognise there is no single financial planning solution but work together with our clients to prioritise their individual needs, including any clients in vulnerable circumstances. Our financial advisers differentiate themselves as our key goal is to educate our clients before offering financial advice. Whenever we work with clients’ we apply our core principles of integrity, reliability and value which form part of our Client Charter. We operate a team-based culture and encourage colleagues to work together to improve our vulnerable client process across all Lonsdale Wealth Management offices including St Albans, Barnet, Stafford, Ringwood, Ware, Harpenden and Leeds/Bradford. Our vulnerable client policy, available on our website is underpinned by the views of our vulnerable client group who work together across offices to agree our vulnerable client strategy. Two members are Dementia Champions, Allan Ross is SOLLA accredited, and Amy Kadir is a mortgage broker at Lonsdale Mortgages, St Albans who provides mortgage advice to first time buyers. Our vulnerable client group also provide internal training and advice to all Lonsdale colleagues.’
The Professional Adviser Awards - national financial service awards
Professional Adviser provides an information service for UK based regulated financial advisers. The Professional Adviser awards are in their 17th year and cover a variety of awards in over 34 different categories. In 2020 over 200 advisers, firms and providers were under consideration for an award, ‘which seek to reward excellence within both the financial advice community and among the broader financial services sector.’ Other winners in 2021 included Liontrust, A J Bell Investcentre, Legal & General and Standard Life.
Allan Ross, Lonsdale independent financial adviser in our Ware financial planning team said:
‘All our financial planners discuss and record vulnerable client changes pre-and-post review. We teach our Lonsdale colleagues how to differentiate between temporary and permanent vulnerability, and what signs to watch out for if clients are in vulnerable circumstances. With an ageing client base, we made it a priority to understand dementia. In 2018 we were the first Hertfordshire financial adviser to become a corporate partner of Alzheimer’s Society. As a Dementia Champion and a member of the vulnerable client group I have trained Lonsdale colleagues to spot dementia signs. Most of our offices now have a colleague who has trained as a Dementia Friend. In 2019 as part of our Alzheimer’s commitment, we launched a ten-point plan to support clients living with dementia and raised £5,000 from fundraising activities for the charity.’
Lonsdale Services offers financial planning from our offices in St Albans, Barnet, Harpenden, Leeds / Bradford, Ringwood, Stafford and Ware. If you would like financial advice please email us at enquiries@lonsdaleservices.co.uk
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