Independent financial advisers coming to Okehampton

From 1st March, 2023, Okehampton will once again have a dedicated, local and independent financial planning firm operating from accessible high street premises.

Moor Independent Financial Advisers are opening their doors in the heart of the town at 6 East Street. Jonathan Cotty has been sharing with ‘The Moorlander’ how excited he is about the venture.

“Having worked in financial services for over 20 years, my wife and I always shared a vision to offer local people a dedicated financial planning service that can offer more than simple off-the-shelf products and broad tax advice.

‘We founded a completely independent practice to offer solutions that integrate a bespoke investment proposition which serves to underpin the financial plans we make with our clients. The investment proposition is vitally important because it is the performance of the investments that will ultimately make or break those long-term ambitions.

‘Sadly, I have often witnessed excellent financial planning then being partnered with an investment solution chosen from a limited range of products, or else entirely outsourced to a third party with no knowledge of the clients’ affairs. We wanted to create a proposition that can pick from the whole marketplace, alongside offering our own in-house model portfolio range and bespoke investment management. Having all these potential solutions at our fingertips gives us more options, in turn ensuring we can best meet the needs of every individual client.”

Jonathan is well-placed to offer financial advice and investment management services, having originally begun his career as a financial adviser in the 1990s. He spent considerable time in investment management and previously sat on the Investment Committee at two financial planning practices, one of which won the national ‘Portfolio Adviser Gold Award’ in 2017, for outstanding investment returns within the boutique category. Qualified to Chartered status, Jonathan has held an esteemed ‘Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI)’ since 2018.

“I really enjoyed working in investment management, but I ended up more and more distanced from retail (private) clients and face-to-face advice. I always had a vision to combine the two disciplines into one firm and present it to people as a complete, bespoke solution.”

Jonathan is running the firm with his wife, Chloe, who also began her career in the financial services industry. “I also worked as Executive Assistant to the Trading Director of a large multi-national, which required good organisational skills. Since we started a family, I have worked on a freelance basis but now, as both our children will be in full-time education from September, I’m really looking forward to growing our own business.”

Moor Independent Financial Advisers have built their firm from scratch and have no minimum requirements for potential clients to meet. “We’re passionate about offering advice to everybody, regardless of status,” Jonathan said. “We do have a minimum fee, but the initial meetings and the research we undertake are all free of charge. We have also deliberately redesigned our offices to accommodate wheelchair users.”

When asked about the rise of online ‘robo-advice’ and whether this threatens the viability of face-to-face advice in the long term, Jonathan remains relatively unconcerned. “I think it’s great that more people can access financial advice and we support that ambition. However, discussing your priorities with a qualified professional is usually very helpful. We may challenge your own priorities, point out matters that have been overlooked and help you to plan your affairs tax-efficiently with an eye on the longer term. A discussion also helps us to gather additional information around the subject, which is frequently important. How much cannot be fed into a machine that may be relevant, such as health, forthcoming inheritance, NI contributions to date, specific Allowances and views around religion, beliefs, family and so forth? I lose count of how many clients have suddenly remembered a forgotten pension pot!

‘It is fair to say that identifying a financial product to meet an immediate need is not long-term, strategic financial planning. For many, whether or not unfounded, there also remains the concern ‘robo-advice’ could be surreptitiously designed to simply complete a predefined checklist in order to sell a particular product.”

Chloe states: “Our business model relies on sitting down and talking to people and offering full, independent financial advice. In addition, we take on clients for the long-term and meet regularly to ensure plans are on track, making adjustments as required. I’m not convinced people will want to schedule regular meetings with a robot!”

Find out more at www.moorifa.co.uk.

Moor Independent Financial Advisers Limited is an Appointed Representative of ValidPath Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under Firm Reference 197107.