Our 2024 year in review 

11 December 2024

As 2024 draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the year and cast our eyes towards what 2025 might hold.

The markets have provided a more positive backdrop to client portfolios in 2024 and we’ve made great progress with many clients’ financial plans.

As a firm, we’ve had another successful year – a true testament to the hard work of everyone at Depledge and the support of our brilliant clients. 

Let’s take a look at our highlights of 2024 and what you can expect from us next year.

More awards for our hard-working team

Our firm was commended by several awarding bodies in 2024.

In the world of financial advice, there are several “landmark” awards each year that showcase the best of the best in our profession. We’re delighted to have won, been shortlisted and commended as finalists at several of these awards this year and are thankful that our excellent standards and dedication have been recognised by these awarding bodies.

• Depledge won the Best Adviser Initiative award at the Professional Adviser Awards.
• Depledge was Highly Commended as Tax and Estate Planner of the Year at the Moneyfacts Awards.
• Andrew was shortlisted as the Chartered Financial Planner of the Year in 2024 with the Personal Finance Society (PFS).
• Depledge was also shortlisted as the Firm of the Year in 2024 with the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI).
• Every year since 2015, Citywire New Model Adviser has named its top 100 advice firms in the UK – and every year, Depledge has made the list. This year was no different, and we plan to remain within the top 100 advice businesses in the country in the years to come.

Thank you to our clients for all your support and to our team for being so hard-working and helping the business reach these milestones.

We welcomed 4 new colleagues and waved goodbye to 3 others

This year, we welcomed four new colleagues to the fold, and said goodbye to others who have moved on to pastures new.

We welcomed Edward Ainley as a Financial Planner and Lorraine Cregg FPFS as a Senior Financial Planner, along with Suzy Graham and Callum Dingsdale who have joined our Client Support Team.

We also wished Adrian a long retirement having called time on his 40-year career in March 2024. Colleagues Kaya and Ben said goodbye to our firm this year as they headed off to pursue new opportunities.

The Depledge team gained new qualifications as we continue to strive for excellence

Our team members gained qualifications this year. Continued professional development (CPD) is extremely important to us, and we consistently invest in our team to ensure we can deliver the outcomes our clients deserve.

Daniel Gordon

Daniel Gordon, our Principal Financial Planning Consultant, has been awarded the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning after passing the following exams:

• AF8 – Retirement Income Planning
• AF1 – Personal Tax and Trust Planning
• LP2 – Financial Services Products and Solutions
• ER1 – Equity Release.

Well done, Daniel.

Edward Ainley

Edward Ainley, our Financial Planning Consultant, was also awarded the CII Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning, after passing his CII AF8 Retirement Planning exam. Congratulations, Edward.

Sarah Rowson

Our Senior Paraplanner, Sarah Rowson, achieved her Level 4 CISI Certificate in Paraplanning and Level 4 CISI Diploma in Investment and Advice. Both huge achievements, well done Sarah.

Andrew Thorp

Andrew Thorp, one of our Paraplanners, has received his CII Diploma in Financial Planning and Level 6 CISI. He passed the following exams to achieve these accolades:

• CII – R03 – Tax Planning
• CII – R06 – Financial Planning Practice
• CISI – L6 Advanced Financial Planning
• CISI – Certificate in Ethical Artificial Intelligence.

Chris Thorp

Finally, Paraplanner Chris Thorp has passed CII RO4 and requires one more exam to receive his CII Diploma in Financial Planning.

We’re so proud of how our team never stops working towards professional development, with the goal always being to provide a better service for you, our clients.

What to expect from Depledge in 2025

Looking ahead to 2025, we plan to continue striving for exemplary service and creating opportunities for our clients to manage and grow their wealth according to their wishes.

2024 has proved a successful 10th year of business at Depledge Strategic Wealth Management Ltd. In many ways, it has proved to be the most transformative year to date.

We end the year with four advisers who are all Chartered and certified (or are close to achieving these Level 6 and 7 qualifications). All our advisers have experience in administration and paraplanning and therefore understand the component parts of our business. This contributes to the smooth and efficient running of our advice operation, including better communication, quicker turnaround times, and more flexibility to adapt our clients’ strategies to the changing dynamics in financial planning.

We expect to be spending time further analysing the Labour Budget and reviewing financial plans and strategies where you have been affected by the changes or expect to be in the future. We also plan to introduce more client events in 2025.

This Christmas, we will be donating again to Francis House who provide appropriate respite and end-of-life care for children and young people with life-limiting illnesses, as well as the necessary support and short-term care for their families. 

We will be closing the office on Tuesday 24 December at 1 pm and re-opening on Thursday 2 January 2025 at 9 am. 

If you have an urgent matter to discuss during this period, please contact Andrew, Dan, Edward or Lorraine.

If you’d like to learn about how we can help you, not just in 2025 but over the long term, get in touch today. Email info@depledgeswm.com or call 0161 808 0200.

And finally, we would like to wish you a very happy Christmas and a joyous new year. See you in 2025!