Awards can be a good measure of the effectiveness of any organisation.
Successful theatrical performances and films will often be recognised within their respective industries and by audiences with prominent awards. The success of sports teams can often be measured by the trophies in their cabinet at the end of each season.
The situation is the same in all parts of industry, and financial services is no exception.
Awards in our particular sector – financial planning – can be a good measure of the professionalism of adviser companies, as well as a clear sign of our commitment to the financial success and wellbeing of our clients.
The International Adviser awards
International Adviser is one of the leading publications for financial advice companies such as Charlton House who trade both in the UK and around the world.
In the 15 years since they launched, they have developed an excellent reputation amongst global intermediaries who use cross-border insurance, investment, banking, and pension products on behalf of their high net worth clients.
So, we’re particularly thrilled that they have recognised us by giving us their Best Practice Adviser Award – Excellence in client service (Asia).
The Covid-19 pandemic has meant that the last twelve months have been particularly challenging. With restrictions on travel and face-to-face meetings, we’ve had to be flexible and innovative in the way we work with our clients.
This means that we’re enormously proud that our work during this time has been recognised with such a high-profile and prestigious award.
We thought this might be an ideal time to quickly run through how our business has developed over the past year, and to remind you of the services and support we can offer you.
Cross-border financial planning
As you may be aware, one key development for Charlton House in 2020 was the opening of our London office.
This has allowed us to provide regulated financial advice in the UK as well as in Hong Kong.
Being dual regulated in both Hong Kong and the UK means we can advise any clients planning to relocate back to the UK (or to Hong Kong) before they arrive at their new base, while also being in a position to provide ongoing advice once they’ve arrived and are facing the challenges of their new surroundings.
We’re sure that being on hand to support clients with financial issues and queries provides a great added value service.
We also believe that having a presence “on the ground” in both the UK and Hong Kong enables us to pick up early on financial issues that could impact on our clients, as well as potential opportunities we’re able to flag up to you.
We have also found that it has opened more and better product options for our international clients than would otherwise not be available.
One great example of this is UK life insurance for international clients on UK insurable interests, such as property. As an FCA authorised firm, we are typically able to provide this at one-third of the price of equivalent offshore policies.
The way we work
We have a depth of knowledge and expertise in-house to deliver an exceptionally high-quality standard of advice.
We have taken steps to ensure that all the advice we give any client is subject to review and backed by stringent and robust due diligence procedures.
For you, this means that any financial advice you get is overseen and checked by at least two qualified advisers. Advisers get technical and administrative support from our highly competent paraplanning team based in the UK.
We also make extensive use of cashflow planning software. This involves analysing client income and outgoings to enable us to provide a highly informed level of financial planning advice. It also enables us to “war game” scenarios such as high interest rates or a stock market crash to test a client’s financial tolerance for such events.
Finally, given that investment advice is integral to each client relationship, we have a team of investment professionals – via our investment partners such as Pacific Asset Management – to advise on the construction of a portfolio while keeping control of the overall risk at account level.
Making full use of technology
Investing in technology – how we communicate and report to our clients – has been a key strategy in adding value to our client relationships.
In the last 12 months, we have undertaken a client journey mapping process with the overall aim to make our client journey as simple and effective as possible. By investing in new software, we’re able to simplify our processes, making them more effective and efficient.
We are also using new investment reporting technology to ensure our investment reports are as accurate and as easy to understand as possible.
Our new website provides news updates and topical information, and acts as an ideal resource for existing clients, and is useful for anyone interested in our business.
Our commitment to you
We hope this gives you a good flavour of how we work, and how committed we are to providing a high-quality financial planning service for our clients.
We believe the award we’ve won validates our commitment. But we aren’t resting on our laurels, and we’re constantly looking for ways to add more value to our client relationships.
Get in touch
We’re always happy to talk through our services with clients. If you’d like to know more about what we’re doing, and how we can help you, please contact us by email or, if you prefer to speak to us, you can reach us in the UK on +44 (0) 208 0044900 or in Hong Kong on +852 39039004.
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