A significant proportion of our clients are Partners in the Magic / Silver Circle of Legal firms and Investment Banking / Finance Professionals. We also profess expertise with Medical and Dental professionals, particularly those in private practice. From a corporate perspective, we deal with Owner-managed businesses and advice relating to Employee Benefit provision in the SME arena. We appreciate that the needs of clients can differ vastly and we are confident that we can meet the expectations of everyone; from the inexperienced client to the most discerning investment/finance professionals. As such, our advice is tailor-made to each situation and led by you the client whether the appropriate strategy is one of wealth creation or of wealth preservation.

Whilst we can offer advice on specific areas of financial advice, we are a Fee-Based Financial Planning organization that strives to build and maintain long-term relationships with our clients rather than provide ad hoc transactional advice traditionally synonymous with a commission. Naturally, being independent, any products recommended are based on a whole market review and any resulting recommendations are backed up by suitable reports that are deliberately produced in a simple yet informative manner for clients to understand the factors that we consider in the decision making process and the justification for the recommendation.

The services below have been designed to meet the needs of our clients and are based on the valuable feedback received over time:

Typically, when we are introduced to or are working with a new client they have invariably made a number of significant financial decisions in their life already e.g. in respect of where they live, the purchase of pensions and/or investments, and various protection-related contracts. These decisions are often made without a cohesive strategy that ties all these significant but generally independent decisions together. This is where Financial Planning comes into significance and is why it is the cornerstone of our Client proposition. Most of our clients don’t aim for retirement but instead look to obtain a state of Financial Independence where they can choose to work or not but their lifestyle and aspirations are maintained.

The concept of financial planning stems from a comprehensive assessment of what arrangements you have in place at this time before any advice can be provided to you. Why? – Because understanding where you start from is imperative as opposed to the traditional method of finding a solution to an individual issue/concern. This assessment is then put into a report from which you can see clearly what you have and what it will achieve, after making relevant assumptions. We then assist in defining clear goals or objectives you may have and then provide professional advice (strategic and product-specific) on the most suitable ways to achieve these.

Naturally, over time circumstances, objectives and legislation can change so it is essential things are reviewed at least annually to ensure such change is factored into your financial plan and any adjustments to the initial recommended action are considered. This is where our On-Going Review service features and is seen as a vital part of our offering.

The Financial plan will typically cover your current financial position, planning for financial independence/retirement, various protection scenarios – death, disability & long-term illness, education fees planning and Inheritance Tax as well as general tax mitigation considerations. This forms a permanent record year on year. We would like to think that you would implement any recommendations you wish to progress with Burlington, but there is no obligation to do so. The Foundation Financial Planning service we offer does not provide such a significant analysis, please ask your Financial Planner for more details.

We attach a sample of the Reports that are produced under this service for your perusal.

(Please click here for a sample of our Foundation Financial Plan and here for our Comprehensive Financial Plan which includes a Current Position and Proposed Strategy Report).

In some instances, Financial Planning may not be the most appropriate method of engagement e.g. Where someone has a specific requirement to undertake a mortgage, use their ISA allowances, or has to ensure they maximize their pension contributions in the specific tax year. In these types of situations, Financial planning is not the only way of engaging with Burlington Associates; instead, we have defined the following as possible alternatives. In these instances, we would undertake an exercise of understanding your current situation by using a standard document referred to as a Fact Find. This along with information we obtain from third parties, where relevant, is then used to prepare a formal recommendation or outline options open to you. This will then be followed by a formal suitability letter where a product recommendation is required or alternatively a letter to confirm the findings of an exercise.

Project Cost – where a specific job to undertake is prescribed and a value can be placed on it e.g. Advice on what Pension to take as part of a choice provided by your Employer or Advice on the most suitable SIPP to meet your objectives.

One of the main things we have identified after taking clients through our Advice process (Financial planning or not) is that they rarely revisit financial decisions they have made in the past and this can lead to outcomes that they did not expect or want. As described earlier the review process of Financial Planning ensures a forced review as your circumstances/objectives change to ensure that they are taken into consideration prior to advice being provided on the way forward. Naturally, those clients that have not undertaken Financial Planning would still like to ensure their financial decisions remain to be in their best interests and in line with their objectives. Ultimately reviewing such arrangements comes down to the time spent doing such including any time for meetings. The result of reviews can lead to changes to existing arrangements or potentially new arrangements being recommended. We have established three levels of service relating to on-going reviews, further information can be obtained on these from our offices or through a no-obligation meeting.