Our Firm
Our Principles are;
Providing access to "whole of market" products and services that meet the needs of YOU our clients.
This is our principle philosophy and is borne out of many years' experience working in a professional practice environment.
Independent professional standards and qualifications.
The working principles for financial advisers of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) our professional body and the examination standards they set are the framework for personal development towards Chartered Status. The minimum standard for all staff providing advice to clients is to be QCF Level 4 Certified and to strive for Chartered status, this being a significantly higher qualification than the minimum required by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
More information can be found at;
Treating Customers Fairly
The basic principles of Treating Customers Fairly is measured regularly against set criteria as laid down by the FSA. Although the FSA has codified these principles we feel that treating you our clients fairly and openly is not just good old fashioned comon sense, its good business practice too, our business has been built over the years on referral by word of mouth, this is powerful and we take the responsibility seriously.
We as a business are also constantly adapting to change, so we welcome feedback and are working towards providing a feedback questionaire. We will inform you when this is available and it will be available for download from the site and will form part of our ongoing strategy to improve as a company. Of course feel free to e-mail us at info@wmifa.co.uk if you have any suggestions you want us to consider.
More information on Treating Customers Fairly (just enter TCF in the search box) can be found at;
External Auditing and support.
We employ Three Sixty Services (known as 360 Services) as an external compliance function to regularly visit and audit our firm, staff, and processes to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Indeed 360 enjoy third party access to all our regulatory dealings with the FSA and provide support and guidance in complying with the regulatory issues and changes that inevitably occur.
However 360, provide much more than just regulatory compliance support, we enjoy access to regular training in support of continuous professional development, regular news and market updates, market and product research tools and technical support on a wide range of subjects, as well as business support tools and advice from a named support team.
more information on 360 can be found at;
http://threesixtyservices.co.uk
So what does all this mean for YOU our clients?
This means that we apply consistent, independent, high quality standards, and you benefit from comprehensive tailored independent advice, subject to regular reviews. We also adhere to the UK's Institute of Financial Planning code of ethics and professional practice.
A transparent fee-based approach to charges.
We distinguish between giving financial advice, service and effecting investment transactions. Having received financial advice from us, clients are under no obligation to effect any transactions. Our costs for our services and advice take account of the time spent, or likely to be spent, in carrying out the work, the complexity of the work, the skills of the person doing it, and our liabilities and regulatory obligations in respect of the work undertaken.
We will always discuss and agree how we are remunerated for advice and service that we provide, indeed we disclose this before any transactional dealings occur and will always seek your written agreement to charges and costs that arise from work undertaken on your behalf.
More information is provided on our disclosure documents that can be accessed or downloaded from the Legal Information page.