In Your Shoes - Adam Rutter

Fireworks, Football and Cycling.

After a weekend of watching the fireworks and attending the Dundee United game it was finished off with a cycle to Broughty Ferry on Sunday. 

Back to work now, and Monday morning starts with a check of my e-mails to see if anything urgent has come in over the weekend. I often have clients looking to make withdrawals or looking for an appointment so it is important these are dealt with quickly. 

I am working from home today and I enjoy the balance of home/office working as I feel it helps with not just productivity but also my own well being.

We have  team meeting every Monday and this is is a good opportunity for everyone to know what is happening in the week ahead and discuss what they got up to at the weekend!

The remainder of the day is used for planning for my meetings this week and catching up on administration.  There is a lot of work going on in the background in financial planning and without our para-planners and adminstration team it would be impossible to do my client facing role.

I finish today at 5pm and contemplate should I eat healthy tonight or have the lasagne in the fridge?

Accountants, Client meetings and Coronation Chicken

Tuesday begins with final preparations in the office for my client meeting in Dundee. I leave around 10am and make my way to the client's house to meet her and her accountant. 

On arrival I am welcomed in with a cup of tea and a fruit slice-always a good start to a meeting. After an introductory chat the meeting begins. The meeting ends around an hour later and I have a brief chat with the accountant to clarify a couple of points.

My role very simplistically is to listen to clients, establish what they need/want and attempt to make it happen within their means. 

Financial advice in general does not get the press coverage that I feel it deserves. If only people could see what really happens in 99.9% of the cases and the collaboration within the sector to ensure that clients needs are looked after. Clients best interests are always considered just like in today's meeting.

On returning to the office I realise it is lunch time and purchase a Tesco Meal deal with a Coronation Chicken sandwich!  I eat this at my desk as I have to prepare for another meeting in the office at 2pm.

Days like today are the best part of my job as I get to meet interesting people and hear about their lives and their families and genuinely help them as much as I can.

After the meeting I spend the rest of the day typing up the file notes for the meeting. These are then sent to our para-planning team who carry out any research and draft the letters for the clients.

It is now 5pm and time to travel home after a productive day.

Video Call meeting

Wednesday begins with preparation for a video meeting at 10am. During Covid, when the working world embraced video calls, I used to hold these every day with clients.

Moving forward to today, it still happens but is the exception rather than the rule now. It is not quite the same as a face-to- face meeting, particularly with a new client, but it suits many clients with health issues or who live a considerable distance away, or just purely for convenience.

The meeting is straightforward with a review of my client's portfolios and a general catch up on their lives. The last couple of years has been difficult in terms of investments, but it is important to remind clients of their long term objectives and not to be put off by short term events.

On the plus side, I make them aware of the marriage allowance they can claim from HMRC so they were pleased with this!

The rest of the day was again spent on file notes, dealing with queries regarding withdrawals, replying to e-mails and consuming a baked potato for lunch.

Down on the farm

I cant believe it is Thursday already-where does the week go! Today I have an appointment with clients on a farm in Perthshire. I usually find farmers have a good sense of humour and are pretty laid back. 

I have been trying to arrange this appointment for weeks, and, when I called and asked for a suitable date, the reply was  "Can you book an appointment when it is raining?"

This was a first meeting with a client, so you are never sure how it will go. However, they were lovely people and happy to proceed to another meeting after I explained how I could help their specific complex needs and also what Thorntons Wealth could offer them. 

After a further discussion around their farm and family I made my way back to complete yet more paperwork.

In the late afternoon I check the weather report and, there is no rain forecast and little wind, I decide to go for a cycle after work. 

CPD, advisor meeting and Gin!

Friday is here. Every Friday there is a financial advisor meeting to discuss any cases where they may be looking for a second opinion or just some re-assurance. The meeting is open to any query, and we can cover anything from training issues, new procedures to arrangements for the Christmas night out!

After the meeting I have a quick lunch and then carry out some CPD (Continuous Professional Development). As my role is regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) it is an important requirement that I undertake a set number of hours each year to enhance and refresh my knowledge as an advisor.

I spend a couple of hours reading online learning material around "financial certainty in retirement" and also completing the tests. If I have learned one thing in the last decade it is that you are never to old to learn!

I reply to some e-mails that I received earlier and before I know it is 5pm! I am looking forward to having a gin and tonic or two later after a busy week.