From awards to new team members – your 2021 Depledge annual review

7 December 2021

As 2021 draws to a close, we can start to reflect on a dramatic year at Depledge Strategic Wealth Management Ltd. There have been so many highlights in what has been a packed year of challenges, triumphs and hard work. 

So, to look back at the year, here are our thoughts on the last 12 months at Depledge.

Adjusting and adapting to the new normal

The pandemic has continued to dominate the headlines in 2021 and has led to so many changes in many facets of our lives, the way we work and communicate, and the economic landscape.

The need to adjust and adapt has been a constant theme throughout the year and we feel that we have managed to do this and continue to evolve.

We have been a Chartered firm since we started operations in 2014 and the keywords associated with this important status are: standards, professionalism and trust. As we move forward and adapt, we always try to keep these words central to our thoughts in providing our advice and services.

Employee update 

Ben Lancaster has successfully negotiated his first year as a senior consultant and has welcomed a significant number of new clients to our services.

Overall, we have been appointed to approximately 50 new families in 2021, which is largely testament to Ben’s hard work. We welcome all our new clients and all the team look forward to working with you going forward. We expect that Ben’s dynamic and high-standard approach to advice will stand him in great stead in the coming years.  

Everyone at Depledge is delighted to see that Dan Gordon will be making the leap into a consultant role towards the end of this year and into 2022.

Dan joined our administration team in 2017 and, having progressed through to become an excellent paraplanner, he qualified as an adviser earlier this year. He is now working on achieving Certified financial planner status having completed the first Level 6 Advanced Financial Planning qualification and moving on to the challenging Level 7 Case Study Analysis.

This is well known as the most challenging qualification in our profession and is a real test of technical knowledge and application. Dan has these skills in abundance and will take these into the next step of his career.

We were delighted to welcome Nikki Shields on board in the summer to bring her considerable experience to the administration team.

Nikki quickly slotted into the team and has been invaluable to our ongoing work. With Dan moving into his new role, we have appointed James Adams as a direct replacement. James will join Depledge in the new year (from Brown Shipley) alongside another new starter, Adam Walker, who will further boost the team. Adam joined us in November.

These new additions will take our team to 14 from the start of 2022. Mark Allen will continue to support our IT function, Paul Watson our investment committee work, and Gary Myers will help with our work with professional connections.

We also continue our partnership with Sense Network. Sense is now part of the adviser support services provider Adviser Services Holdings Limited that now includes both the Sense and Lyncombe networks. Combined they have passed the 400-adviser mark with over £5 billion in assets under influence.

Retaining our Chartered and British Standard status

We have successfully retained our Chartered status and our British Standard BS5270 standard for running a financial planning firm this year.

Additionally, after some very hard work, Andrew successfully qualified as a Certified financial planner (having completed the Level 6 and Level 7 Advanced Financial Planning qualifications) with the Chartered Investment and Securities Institute (CISI).

We are now in the process of applying for CISI “accredited firm status”. We believe that we will be the only firm in the north-west to achieve all three of these certifications, which we consider the pinnacle standard in how to run a financial planning firm.

We are very proud of this achievement in our seventh year of operation. Andrew calls this the “holy trinity” of advice standards.

Another award-winning year

2021 saw the firm recognised in several important awards within our profession:

• Won the 2021 Moneyfacts UK Retirement Adviser of the Year
• Shortlisted as the Adviser Firm of the Year – North-West by Professional Adviser 
• Shortlisted as the Best Adviser Firm in the North-West by New Model Adviser
• Shortlisted as the Best Small IFA of the Year by Money Marketing. 

New Model Adviser also included us in their prestigious “Top 100 firms in the UK” list for the seventh year running.

Furthermore, Andrew has featured in the Personal Finance Society awards for the second year in a row. He was shortlisted in the final three for the flagship Chartered Financial Planner of the Year award as well as the Retirement and Later Life Specialist award.

While he didn’t quite pull off the win, he is keen to try again as the actual 2021 winner has previously been shortlisted four times!

Thank you to everyone for your support

We certainly wish all our clients, colleagues, and professional connections all the best for the end of 2021 and look forward to working with you into 2022 and beyond.

As ever if you need us, please get in touch. Email info@depledgeswm.com or call 0161 8080200.