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Work With Us
Professional Partnerships Built Around the Client
The best outcomes for clients often come when their professional advisers work together.
We work alongside solicitors, accountants and estate agents to provide independent financial planning and mortgage advice when their clients need expertise outside their own professional remit.
Whether a client has received an inheritance, is going through a divorce, selling a business, planning their estate, buying a property or simply needs help making sense of their finances, we can provide the regulated financial advice they need while working collaboratively with the professionals they already know and trust.
Our approach is simple: look after the client properly, communicate clearly and protect the relationship that introduced us.
If you're looking for a financial adviser you can confidently introduce to your clients, we'd be very happy to have a conversation.
Working With Solicitors
Solicitors are often involved at some of the most financially significant points in a client's life.
A legal matter may be the reason somebody suddenly needs financial advice, but the financial decisions that follow can extend well beyond the legal work itself.
That's where we can help.
We can work alongside you where your client requires regulated financial planning advice, while you remain responsible for the legal aspects of their situation.
Inheritance & Bereavement
Receiving an inheritance can leave somebody with significant financial decisions at what may already be a difficult time.
Once the legal administration of an estate has been dealt with, clients may need advice about what to do with inherited money.
We can help them consider:
- Cash and investment options
- ISA and pension planning
- Generating an income from inherited capital
- Paying down mortgages or other borrowing
- Retirement planning
- Longer-term investment strategies
- Estate and inheritance tax planning
- Financial protection for their family
Most importantly, we take the time to understand what the money means to the client before recommending what they should do with it.
Divorce & Separation
Divorce frequently involves pensions, property, mortgages and significant changes to somebody's financial circumstances.
Once the legal settlement is understood, clients may need help answering the practical financial questions that follow.
We can assist with areas such as:
- Understanding existing pensions and investments
- Pension planning following a settlement
- Investing a cash settlement
- Reviewing retirement plans
- Mortgage affordability
- Remortgaging into one person's name
- Purchasing a new home
- Protection and life insurance
- Rebuilding a longer-term financial plan
This allows the solicitor to concentrate on the legal process while the client has somebody helping them understand what their financial future could look like afterwards.
Later Life & Estate Planning
Estate planning often requires legal, tax and financial advice to work alongside one another.
Where appropriate, we can work with you and the client's accountant to consider their wider financial position, including:
- Pensions
- Investments
- ISAs
- Cash
- Property
- Retirement income
- Gifts and lifetime planning
- Inheritance tax considerations
- Financial provision for family members
Where legal documents, trusts, Wills or Powers of Attorney are required, we recognise where our advice ends and yours begins.
That distinction is important to us.
Personal Injury & Financial Settlements
Where a client receives a significant financial settlement, they may suddenly be responsible for managing a sum of money that needs to support them for many years.
Depending on their circumstances and the specialist advice required, we can help with investment planning, income requirements, cashflow modelling and wider financial planning, working alongside the client's legal and other professional advisers.
Where a case requires specialist advice beyond our permissions or expertise, we will say so.
Working With Accountants
There is a natural overlap between financial planning and accountancy, particularly when working with business owners and company directors.
Your client may ask:
“Should I take more salary or dividends?”
“Can my company pay into my pension?”
“I've got too much cash sitting in the business – what should I do with it?”
“How much should I be putting into my pension?”
“Can I afford to retire?”
“I'm selling my business – what do I do with the proceeds?”
These conversations often benefit from the accountant and financial planner working together.
We can provide advice around:
- Director and employer pension contributions
- Personal pension planning
- Investments and ISAs
- Retirement planning
- Cashflow modelling
- Protection for directors, families and businesses
- Investment of business sale proceeds
- Personal financial planning for business owners
- Estate and inheritance tax planning
We don't try to become the client's accountant.
Where tax advice or calculations sit with you, we will work with you rather than attempting to duplicate your role.
That creates a much more joined-up service for the client.
Working With Estate Agents
Buying or selling a property often creates an immediate need for financial advice.
As independent mortgage advisers, we can support your buyers from the early stages of establishing affordability through to mortgage application and completion.
We can help with:
- First-time buyers
- Home movers
- Remortgages
- Buy-to-let mortgages
- Agreement/Decision in Principle
- Mortgage affordability
- Protection and life insurance
- More complex mortgage circumstances
We understand how frustrating poor communication can be during a property transaction.
Where appropriate and with the client's permission, we can keep the relevant parties informed as the mortgage progresses and help deal with issues quickly when they arise.
For estate agents, that means referring a buyer to somebody who understands that getting the mortgage agreed is only part of the job – keeping the transaction moving matters too.
More Than Somewhere to Send a Referral
We're not looking to simply collect names and telephone numbers.
We want to build genuine professional relationships.
If you introduce somebody to us, we understand that your own reputation is attached to that introduction.
That means how we treat the client reflects on you too.
We take that responsibility seriously.
Our aim is that when a client returns to you, they say:
“Thank you for introducing me to them.”
What Sets Us Apart?
Independent Advice
We provide independent financial advice rather than being restricted to one provider or a limited range of solutions.
Our recommendations are based around the client's individual circumstances and objectives.
Financial Planning, Not Just Products
A client doesn't necessarily need another pension, investment or insurance policy.
They need to understand what they are trying to achieve.
We look at the wider picture – their family, income, assets, liabilities, pensions, investments, property and future objectives – before determining what advice is appropriate.
Cashflow Modelling
For clients with more complex financial decisions, cashflow modelling can be extremely powerful.
Rather than discussing retirement or investment planning purely in terms of products and percentages, we can help clients visualise their financial future.
For example:
Can I afford to retire at 60?
What happens if I give £100,000 to my children?
How much income could my investments provide?
What happens if I sell my business?
Am I likely to run out of money?
It can turn a complicated financial position into something the client can actually understand.
We Know Where Our Advice Ends
This is particularly important when working with other professionals.
We provide regulated financial and mortgage advice.
We don't pretend to be solicitors or accountants.
Where a matter requires legal or specialist tax advice, we will refer the client back to the appropriate professional and, with permission, work collaboratively with them.
That means clearer professional boundaries and better outcomes for the client.
Communication Matters
One of the biggest frustrations with professional referrals is simply not knowing what happened afterwards.
Did the adviser contact the client?
Did they attend the meeting?
Are they able to help?
Has anything progressed?
Subject to client consent and confidentiality requirements, we believe in keeping referring professionals appropriately informed.
You shouldn't have to chase us to find out whether we've looked after somebody you introduced.
We Respect Your Client Relationship
If you introduce a client to us, we recognise that they may have been your client for many years.
Our role is to add financial planning expertise to that relationship, not undermine it.
Where other professional advice is required in the future, we are also happy to refer the client back to the professional who introduced them where appropriate.
The strongest professional partnerships work both ways.
Examples of When We Could Help
You don't need to determine exactly what financial advice the client requires before introducing them.
A conversation may be worthwhile when you hear a client say:
“I've inherited some money and don't know what to do with it.”
“I'm getting divorced and don't know whether I'll be able to afford the mortgage.”
“I've sold my business and now have a large amount sitting in cash.”
“My accountant says I should speak to someone about making pension contributions.”
“I'm approaching retirement and have pensions everywhere.”
“I'd like to give money to my children but I'm worried about whether I'll have enough myself.”
“We're buying a house but our circumstances are a little complicated.”
“I need to start thinking about inheritance tax.”
You don't need to solve the financial planning question yourself.
That's what we're here for.
How a Referral Works
We deliberately keep referrals straightforward.
1. Make the introduction
An email introduction is often all that's needed. Alternatively, you can ask the client to contact us directly.
2. We speak to the client
We'll arrange an initial conversation to understand their circumstances and establish whether we can help.
3. We explain the service
Before proceeding with advice, we'll explain what is involved and any applicable costs so the client understands what to expect.
4. We work together where appropriate
If we need information or input from you, we'll liaise with you with the client's permission.
5. We keep the relationship going
Our aim isn't simply to complete a transaction. Where appropriate, we can continue helping the client with their financial planning over the years ahead while maintaining the relationship with their other professional advisers.
Become a Referral Partner
We're always interested in meeting good solicitors, accountants and estate agents who share our approach to looking after clients.
There doesn't need to be a complicated formal arrangement.
It can start with a coffee and a conversation about the work you do, the clients you typically help and where our services might complement each other.
From there, we can establish a relationship where we each know there is a trusted professional available when a client needs help outside our own area of expertise.
If you're a solicitor, accountant or estate agent in Cornwall or the South West, and would like to explore working together, we'd be delighted to hear from you.
Let's Have a Conversation
If you'd like to learn more about how we work with other professional advisers or discuss becoming a referral partner, please get in touch.
No hard sell. No complicated commitment. Just a conversation about whether working together could provide a better service for our clients.
Octo Financial Planning Ltd provides regulated financial planning and mortgage advice. Where legal, accountancy or specialist tax advice is required, clients should seek advice from an appropriately qualified professional.