Just Financial Planning and Kingsfleet Wealth, two independent financial advice firms based in Norfolk and Suffolk, respectively, have been included in the 2021 Citywire New Model Adviser [NMA] Top 100 list.
The 2021 edition is the tenth NMA Top 100 list compiled by Citywire, which aims to celebrate the best of the professional financial planning community.
The latest list is comprised of a diverse range of companies of various sizes with individual success stories from the last year which have been ranked by Citywire’s own scoring process. Accounts of successful community and charity involvement are more prevalent than ever before, with many of the firms on the list having established themselves as a positive presence in their communities and thrown themselves into charitable work with renewed energy and vigour following the Covid-19 pandemic.
This certainly rings true in the cases of Just Financial Planning and Kingsfleet Wealth who both feature on the list, and not for the first time. The former, headed up by managing director, Holly Heald, has this year raised almost £10,000 to provide outreach and meals during the lockdowns for vulnerable people on behalf of the Soul Foundation and Gateway Vineyard Church. It also has longer term plans to sponsor 20 children, which is equivalent to the number that its staff members have between them.
Kingsfleet Wealth, under the stewardship of managing director, Colin Low, raised funds for Suffolk Mind, St Elizabeth Hospice, supporting schoolchildren in Liberia and The Salvation Army foodbank. It has also sought to help bring through the next generation of talent into the industry by offering summer internships for four A-level students, to bring them into the firm at Level 3 when they commence their apprenticeships with the firm the following year.
Both companies have also moved with the changing times of this last year and adapted their working practices to the needs of their employees. Just Financial Planning has offered flexible working to its staff, while also purchasing new premises to ensure there is room for its growing team to go into work where they feel they need to, as well as offering a space to host functions.
The firm has also boosted its client offering over the past year through online means with the development of a virtual portal, as well as other market and budget updates.
Meanwhile, to place the client at the heart of its work, Kingsfleet Wealth has shifted its focus to true financial planning with a new emphasis on cashflow, reshaping its management structure and redefining its company purpose as a provider of ‘life-changing advice’. This move, according to Low, has helped clients prioritise their mental health even more, with some even leaving roles that were having an adverse effect on wellbeing.
Low explained: “Our advice has resulted in some clients leaving roles that have affected their mental health for the worse, while others have benefited from fewer working days each week and even taken early retirement.”
For both companies and both business leaders, the inclusion of their practices among the Citywire NMA Top 100 comes as just recognition for the work that they and their colleagues have put in over a challenging year.
Low said: “We are absolutely delighted to be included, once again, in Citywire's Top 100 UK Financial Adviser firms. I thank everyone who has had a hand in making this possible for us.”
For Heald, whose company features on the list for the fourth consecutive year, the turbulent times of Covid-19 have meant that good financial advice has never been more critical.
She said: “It is true that good financial advice has always been important, but never more so than in turbulent times. The last two years have certainly brought their challenges, and we’re proud that our team has persevered through the pandemic, adapting to new, safe ways of working whilst still maintaining our high level of service.”
