Conversations
On Advice
Citywire in association with PIMCO have been virtually travelling the UK to bring together financial advisers and fund managers to explore what it means to talk to clients today. We listen to their stories and how they navigate the crisis, the stronger role of technology when it comes to engaging with old and new client and whether there is a solution to the advice gap. One conclusion of this journey is clear: financial advice is not and will never be just about business and planning ahead.
Discover how advice and investment professionals nurture their relationships with their clients and how the future of their work might look like.
Midlands
On changing perspective on advice and keeping trust as a fundament of clients’ relationships
Scotland
On keeping up communication in difficult times and learning how to talk about money
South East
On building financial advice relationships as friendships and how Zoom is not that bad after all
South West
On the need for financial education and advice reaching the professional status
North
On first impressions, retaining clients and the impact of their investments
Our first stop is in the Midlands
The Article
More than advice: building client relationships in a Covid-19 world
The huge disruption the pandemic has caused is having ripple effects within the way financial advisers and providers communicate with each other and their clients.
The Video
‘Be yourself and tell the truth’: Why client communication matters
The key to a strong relationship is always trust and respect. In financial services, this doesn’t change. See how advisers in the Midlands have engaged with their clients during Covid.
Cross-country stars: How 20 Midlands advisers bond with their clients
As part of our NMA regional Top 20s, we selected 20 firms in the Midlands that we think are doing great work building bonds with clients and driving the profession forward, both in terms of growth and best practice.
The Panellists
Phil McGovern
MANAGING DIRECTOR, MPA FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Phil McGovern is Managing Director of MPA Financial Management Ltd who are a directly authorised independent firm of Chartered Financial Planners. They manage over half a billion in client assets and regularly feature in NMA’s Top 100 IFA firms. They have 20 advisers in total and specialise in pension planning and investments. Phil was previously a board member of SOFA and is a Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the PFS. He has a passion for the industry in which he has worked in for 30 years and wants to see a sustainable, thriving IFA sector for the foreseeable future.
Gareth Cope
CHARTERED FINANCIAL PLANNER, INTELLIGENT WEALTH MANAGEMENT PARTNERSHIP
Gareth Cope has been a financial adviser for 20 years and specialises in retirement planning. He is a Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the PFS. He tries to work on the basis that keeping financial planning simple and understandable will lead to more elegant and good value solutions. The majority of his work is in conjunction with other financial advisers and professionals. When not working, Gareth enjoys fell walking, languages & collecting interesting artefacts. He lives in Staffordshire with his wife, Katia, although they spend a lot of their free time in their holiday home in the Lake District.
Ian Smith
DIRECTOR, CENTRAL WEALTH PLANNING LIMITED
Ian Smith started Central Financial Planning Limited in 2002, since then the firm have won an number of awards. Ian is both a chartered and certified financial planner and has a Master’s Degree in Financial Planning and is working on a PhD. In his spare time Ian enjoys Kung Fu and kickboxing. He has 2 young children and likes the outdoors and live music.
Gary Metcalf
DIRECTOR, GEMINI WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Gary, as a Wealth Manager and Director of Gemini, has more than 30 years of experience in financial services and can use this experience when it comes to advising clients to help them make the right decisions. Gary was a Building Society manager at the age of 26 and has held a number of senior managerial positions. Gary is a member of the MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table), the premier association of financial professionals. He qualified as ‘Top of the table’, which is limited to the top 1% of financial advisers worldwide. Gary is also Chair of the MDRT UK Committee. Gary’s interests are mainly sport, especially watching football and he also likes to train at the gym. He completed the Winter Wolf Run in November 2016 and the Autumn one in September 2017. He has also completed the Prudential London/ Surrey 100 mile bike ride in July 2017.
Tim Kirby
CO-FOUNDER, WKM WEALTH
Tim graduated with a degree in Business before joining the financial services industry in 2004. He has been advising clients in respect of their financial planning needs since 2007. Tim’s clients include business owners, professionals, entrepreneurs and retirees. He is passionate about helping clients create simplicity in their lives through delivering bespoke financial planning and achieving their goals. Tim is a Chartered Financial Planner, a pension transfer specialist and a long standing member of the Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes. Tim has board-level experience of managing a financial services business and growing their pensions arm before co-founding WKM. He brings this experience to WKM and is responsible for the compliance and money laundering reporting officer roles while continuing to look after the needs of his clients. He is a father to his three young children, and following a sporting career involving football, cricket and darts, he now spends his free time cycling and watching most sports.
Joseph McCurdy
VICE PRESIDENT & ACCOUNT MANAGER, PIMCO
Mr. McCurdy is a vice president in UK global wealth management based in the London office. He is responsible for overseeing the development of PIMCO’s business across the northern UK, focusing on wealth managers, multi-managers and financial advisers. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2018, he was an investment director at Standard Life Investments. He has 18 years of investment and financial services experience and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Dundee.
