Financial Planning Group - Adviser

Job Description

We are looking for a financial planner to join WTW’s Financial Planning Group (FPG). The FPG is a specialist team within WTW which provides independent regulated financial advice to individual clients, and group-based education to employees and members of WTW’sexisting corporate and trustee clients. The FPG is undergoing a programme of expansion and we are looking for experienced advisers to help us meet our expansion goals.You will provide guidance and regulated advice to individuals who are direct clients of WTW, or who are employees of our corporate clients or members of our pension scheme clients. Our guidance and advice services focus on retirement planning, as well as broaderfinancial planning services to help ensure our clients can meet their short, medium and long term goals.Knowledge of the UK pensions landscape is essential, along with good investment and wider financial planning knowledge.The Role

• Saving for retirement (all ages) and preparing for retirement (age 55+)
• Retirement income strategy, including discussing and advising on annuities, drawdown, UFPLS or blended solutions as appropriate
• Advice in retirement: maintaining income, reacting to changing needs and circumstances
• Pension switching and consolidation
• Non-pension investment advice and subsequent portfolio reviews – including ISA, General Investment Account and Investment Bonds, as appropriate. Tax efficient investment strategies including use of CGT allowances where appropriate.
• Detailed Annual Allowance planning
• Estate planning – including Business Relief, gifts (including into trusts), term insurance and whole of life insurance as appropriate
• Workplace financial education
• Tax efficient investing (for example VCTs, where appropriate)
• Life assurance policies

The successful candidate will:

• Apply specialist knowledge to provide high quality guidance and advice, specific to the clients needs and objectives, in a cost effective manner
• Display strong knowledge of financial planning topics, sufficiently strong to provide written and verbal advice to clients, prospects and colleagues on these topics
• Build credibility with clients and / or prospects to take on additional individual clients / account responsibilities
• Deliver face to face elements of any workplace structured financial education projects
• Monitor and promote client satisfaction, including managing client expectations on budgets and timescales
• Cultivate relationships beyond the initial client appointment with a view to broadening or deepening the services provided
• Promote marketing efforts for individual client opportunities
• Work with the wider WTW team to promote and expand our workplace financial guidance services

An excellent standard of written communication skill will be required. In addition the candidate should be able to:

• Constructively challenge thoughts and ideas of peers and senior colleagues, demonstrating independent thinking; analyse, synthesise and articulate complex technical and regulatory issues
• Ensures compliance with the WTW Excellence framework
• Maintain their Statement of Professional Standing status, meet the WTW CPD requirements and comply with the WTW standards for advice relating to regulated new business

The candidate will be required to:

• Positively mentor and develop junior associates through formal process and also informally through day-to-day interaction
• Clearly specify task requirements to Paraplanners/administrators to ensure work is delivered efficiently and to budget
• Actively build own network of contacts within WTW and providers

This position will be required to adhere to the FCAs Senior Managers and Certification RegimeThe Requirements

• Chartered status preferred – as a minimum suitable professional qualifications to Level 4 FCA recognised qualification, with ability to provide retail investment advice
• Knowledge of the UK pensions market, including DB, DC and Cash Balance, and wider investment product knowledge is essential, as is an ability to provide guidance and advice on retirement income options
• A strong understanding of the UK pensions tax regime including Annual Allowance, and the former LTA regime including protections, and ability to provide guidance and advice on these for individuals affected.
• An excellent standard of written and oral communication is required. The candidate should be an individual who can learn quickly, use their own initiative and organise their own workload effectively.
• Experience in a fee based environment would be an advantage
• A good working knowledge of Excel, Word and Powerpoint is required and experience of specific financial planning tools, such as Morningstar Adviser Workstation, FE Analytics, DD Hub, Intelliflo and Voyant, or other back office systems or cashflow modellingtools, would be advantageous.

This is a great opportunity for someone with strong experience in the UK financial advice market, and with several years’ experience of delivery as a regulated adviser, to take their next step and join a financial planning team that is focused on strong ethicsand doing the right thing for our clients.Equal Opportunity EmployerAt WTW, we believe difference makes us stronger. We want our workforce to reflect the different and varied markets we operate in and to build a culture of inclusivity that makes colleagues feel welcome, valued and empowered to bring their whole selvesto work every day. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive work environment throughout our organisation. We embrace all types of diversity