"Barry's financial advice is always clearly and carefully given, without any sales pressure, following sensible discussion allied to well-researched options from his access to many financial product providers. A typical 'phone call from Barry could be - "John, due to recent developments in products available and/or Budget, I think we should talk."
John Henley
Virginia Water

Paragon Independent Financial Solutions Ltd is an appointed representative of Sesame Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Sesame is entered on the FSA register www.fsa.gov.uk/register/ under reference 150427.

The FSA do not regulate some forms of mortgage and Inheritance Tax Planning.

What we do

We aim to help our clients understand more about their financial circumstances and arrangements, and the options available to them.

There are five potential stages in our approach to advice: -

  • Foundation
  • Analysis
  • Consultation
  • Research and Recommendation

Foundation

This first stage provides the basis for all our subsequent work and involves us listening carefully to our clients. The emphasis is on a your personal situation, establishing where you are now and where you want to be.

We need to:

  • Understand your needs and concerns;
  • Ensure that you understand the arrangements you already have in place;
  • Identify your objectives and priorities.

We confirm that our understanding is consistent with yours, before moving on to a more detailed analysis.

Analysis

This stage can relate to one or more specific aspects of financial planning (such as Inheritance Tax planning, retirement planning or a portfolio review), or take a more holistic approach, which incorporates all relevant financial areas. We will go into as much depth and detail as you find useful. Typically, this will involve: -

  • Requesting appropriate information and projections from product providers and/or current and previous employers;
  • Analysing how closely existing arrangements meet needs;
  • Identifying shortfalls and opportunities.

Consultation

This is a critical stage in ensuring that you are able to make fully informed decisions. It involves: -

  • Communicating the results of our analysis
  • Presenting conceptual options available including possible product solutions where appropriate
  • Establishing your opinions and preferences

The consultation may suggest the use of financial services products, but will not extend to recommending a specific product. Once we have your input and agreement, we are able to move into the specific research and recommendation stage.

Research and Recommendation

The consultation stage will have agreed the overall direction, to meet your financial aspirations, together with an outline of any actions to be taken at this stage.

Where the need for a product has been identified, we will research the market to source the best options to meet your objectives. As Independent Financial Advisers, we are not tied to any particular company; we act on behalf of our clients, to select the most suitable plans, given their specific requirements.

We will then explain our recommendations, highlighting the key elements, together with any risks and tax implications. We will provide relevant information from the product provider, including a specific illustration. In more complex cases, we may present alternative scenarios, to discuss with you, before concluding on which one best meets their needs.

Once the specific recommendations have been approved, we will ensure that the application is completed, with the minimum of fuss.

You will receive a written report, documenting our recommendations, together with the reasons for them. This is of particular value in future, if you would like to review details, at a time when our discussions are not so fresh in their mind.

Maintenance

Things change and financial plans need to be able to adapt. We offer a variety of services to help clients make the most effective use of their financial resources, in the light of changing circumstances, including:-

  • Regular review meetings and/or reports
  • Providing ongoing updates, relating to key changes, such as budget and other legislative changes and market outlooks
  • Being available by telephone and email to answer clients questions

Ongoing advice may focus on a range of issues, including proactive and reactive financial mentoring and portfolio reviews. This service will have different benefits for different clients. For some, it will mean ongoing reminders to check that they have taken the actions they committed to, within particular timescales. For others, it will represent more of a general ‘sounding board', for the career or family decisions that they face, helping them to clarify their own thoughts and, potentially, providing additional ideas and insights.

If you have investment or pension funds, we can provide regular reports, to monitor how your funds have performed in relation to each other, and to any agreed benchmarks. We can then consider whether any changes would be likely to improve your planning, in the light of updates in personal objectives, portfolio balance and fund performance.

 

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