Exciting Updates & Christmas Wishes

First of all, we would like to wish you a heartfelt Merry Christmas from the whole Robertson Baxter team!

2021 has been an extraordinary year in so many ways: not only for obvious reasons, but also because of how much we have evolved as a business and we are thankful to end the year in such a strong position.

It has been incredibly rewarding to work alongside our clients to ensure that they are still on course to meet their financial objectives and we have been delighted to welcome several new clients on board to RB, many of whom have been recommended to us.

Our team has worked incredibly hard and we would like to share our successes and some updates with you as we reflect on the year and prepare ourselves for the festive break.

Awards

• We started the year with a well-deserved ‘Rising Star’ award for our paraplanner and content writer Chloe Timperley and a shortlisting for ‘Financial Advice Team of the Year’ in the Yorkshire Financial Awards. The event seeks to champion the ‘best and brightest’ in Yorkshire’s financial sector, and Robertson Baxter has now been amongst the finalists in various categories for four years running (more on that below!)
• In the summer, we were incredibly proud to announce that our Client Services Manager Helen Morgan was shortlisted for not one but THREE awards at Professional Adviser Magazine’s 2021 Women in Financial Advice awards:Team Leader of the Year
  In-House Adviser Support
  Role Model of the Year (small / medium firms)​The awards seek to identify women who have helped ‘enhance an area of financial advice or raise its profile as a career for women’. Finalists are selected from a pool of hundreds of nominees from up and down the country. To make the shortlists in three separate categories is a rare achievement and testament to Helen’s outstanding leadership, professionalism and work ethic.
• More recently, we were delighted to end the year with the news that our Senior Financial Planner Antony Barton has been shortlisted for the Yorkshire Financial Awards 2022 in the ‘Adviser of the Year’ category. Antony’s entry emphasised some of the positive unsolicited feedback he received this year, including comments that his clients felt looked after ‘not just financially, but on a personal level’.Antony’s approach to financial planning is all about helping clients turn their ‘one day’ goals into ‘why not now?’ action plans. Wherever possible he takes an intergenerational approach to ensure the younger family members are financially well-set from an early age. As a senior member of the team and a highly experienced financial planner, Antony has also acted as a mentor to more junior colleagues, who have found his insights and support invaluable.We wish Antony all the best at the ceremony in February 2022, and will keep you posted on the outcome.

People

• We have continued to invest in our people who are key to our continued success and plans for growth.
• Lizi Grange is the newest member of our multi-talented Client Services team. She joins Natalie who started with us in April and Helen and Audrey who have been with us for a number of years. Lizi brings a wealth of experience to the job, having spent 10 years working in financial services – including team leadership, client care, software training and investment solution support.Working in Client Services means Lizi is often one of the first points of contact our clients have with us. With her calm, friendly and professional nature she is well-suited to the demands of the role, and we are delighted to have her on board.
• We recently welcomed John Chadwick, Chartered Independent Financial Planner to our advisory team. We are honoured John chose to come and work with us, especially since we know how important it was for him to ‘find a home for [his] clients at a company where [he knows] they will be properly taken care of’. We profiled John in a recent blog post to give a full picture of his career history and ethos as an adviser, which you can read here.
• ​Meanwhile, over in the Technical Team, we look forward to welcoming back Paraplanner Rebecca Dean from maternity leave in the new year (even though it seems like no time at all has passed since the arrival of baby Jack!).
• ​We are also pleased to announce that Trainee Paraplanner Barney Wood, who initially joined us on a fixed-term contract, will now be staying with us on a full-time, permanent basis – having shown himself to be an invaluable member of the Technical Team.
• Financial adviser Dan Willers achieved Chartered Status in the summer, a formidable achievement requiring years of study, industry experience and successful completion of the level 6 Advanced Diploma in Financial Advice. We couldn’t be prouder of Dan’s hard-earned success: he undoubtedly has a bright career ahead of him and we look forward to seeing him progress further.

New Website Launch

The wait is over: we are delighted to announce the official launch of our brand new company website! Featuring client videos, redesigned staff profiles, user-friendly navigation and a wealth of information and resources for existing and potential clients!

We especially wanted the new look to reflect our focus on building exceptional client relationships and dynamic teams who share our core values. Take a look around, we’d love to hear what you think.

Client News

We had the rare opportunity to don ballgowns and bowties in November 2021 as guests at The Bampax Charity Ball, hosted at Meltham Mills by Dan Bamforth and RB client Richard Paxman.

Highlights included a jaw-dropping firework display by award winning Optimum Fireworks and Live PA by 90’s sensation Livin’ Joy whose hits include ‘Dreamer’. This is also where the glamourous shot above was taken (we scrub up well!)

And most importantly, the event raised £58,000 for the chosen charities Adoption UK and The Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust – so congratulations to Rich and Dan and everyone who helped to make it happen.

Coming Soon…

• We haven’t forgotten to share the results of our 2021 Client Survey– we are putting together an infographic (not dissimilar to our ‘Lockdown Stats’ infographic, which was very well received!) so you can see how we fared. Once again we’d like to thank everyone who took the time to share their feedback; it was useful to hear how well we are looking after you, to understand what you value and to hear your suggestions, all of which helps us to provide you with the best possible service.
• Preparations are underway for the launch of a new service for Wealth Platform users whose investments are held in a Fusion Wealth ISA. The facility will essentially allow clients to action Fusion ISA top-ups online via the platform – no forms, no signatures, and far less hassle.This will be especially useful for Fusion clients who like to fund their ISAs at tax-year end. Investors should keep an eye out for further details.
• We are actively recruiting for another full-time Client Services professional – see here for the full job description. If you know anybody who might be a good fit, feel free to share the link with them!
• In the summer we completed an IT upgrade of our network, communication software and improved security for logging into our systems and external data transmission. In January we will be completing the final phase in updating our telephone system, which will enable us to handle calls more efficiently between the team working from different locations both at home and in the office.

That’s everything for now and we will continue to update you next year with news of what we are up to. We hope you are keeping safe and well, and if you need to get in touch, please see below for details on our Christmas opening hours.

Wishing you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

The Robertson Baxter Team