A day in the life of an SPW adviser

My day starts with a review of any emails that have come in the previous evening. Clients often correspond with me at the end of their working day, when they have more time to focus on their personal affairs. My clients trust me to help them meet their financial goals, so it is extremely important that I pick these emails up as soon as my working day starts.

Next, I review any new client requests or updates that have come in overnight and write out my priority list. I might be old fashioned, but I prefer to work with a pen and paper. Writing it out helps me plan better and understand what needs to be done first, while highlighting any activities brought over from the previous day.

Typically, I have at least two meetings with clients each day, which could be on almost any financial planning topic. It might be a first meeting with a new client, where we create a visual timeline of what their financial future could look like. Or it could be a follow-up meeting where we present a plan to a client and make suggestions to help them achieve their financial goals.

Keeping people on track

Alternatively, it might be one of our regular review meetings with an existing client as part of our ongoing advice service. These meetings are very important and help people understand their financial situation. We discuss any changes we may need to make to ensure they are on track to hit their targets, or to reflect any changes in their personal circumstances.

Not everyone wants or needs regular meetings, however. For some people, we have one-off meetings or stay in touch via telephone or through our wealth portal.

Generally, if I am not working with our clients, I will be speaking with our colleagues at Lloyds Banking Group, to help identify any of their clients who could benefit from financial planning. Many people still don’t know about the full range of services and options financial planning can provide.

Financial planning covers a wide range of services and options for people at different stages of their financial journey, and there are many ways Schroders Personal Wealth (SPW) can help.

Our retirement planning service can help clients maintain a comfortable standard of living after their working life ends. And our estate planning service can help create an inheritance plan to pass on wealth to loved ones.

Using Schroder Investment Management expertise

As a joint venture between Lloyds Banking Group and Schroder Investment Management, SPW is well placed to offer investments that aim to help people grow their wealth or provide a reliable income stream. We also offer a variety of protection insurance products to help people deal with illness or death.

Another important part of my day is dedicated to educating people about the benefits of financial planning, which involves planning webinars and financial advice days for third party businesses.

SPW advisers also receive regular updates from our investment colleagues about the latest developments in financial markets and what they mean for our investments and clients’ portfolios.

Before finishing for the day, it is important to make sure no important client emails received during the day remain unanswered and to note any tasks that need to be taken care of the next morning.

At SPW financial planning is what we do well, and we pride ourselves on our customer service and experience. We are devoted to helping our clients from the moment we start working until we log off at the end of the day.