True Bearing scores a hat-trick

True Bearing Chartered Financial Planners in Euxton, Chorley, is delighted to have achieved Top 100 Financial Adviser status for the third year in a row.

Each year Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) Firms are assessed by their leading professional publication ‘New Model Adviser’. Nationally, there are in the region of 10,000 Financial Adviser Firms. True Bearing has achieved Top 100 status for 2016, 2017 and now 2018.

So what makes a Top 100 Financial Adviser Firm?

There are several key criteria, ranging from high levels of qualifications, retention rate of clients year after year, to putting something back into the local community. Also included are growth in staff numbers, increasing levels of turnover and acceptable profitability. Nobody wants an IFA firm to fail financially!

Compliant processes and procedures are an essential part of New Model Adviser’s judging criteria. At True Bearing, they have their own strong in-house compliance team, but then also employ external compliance auditors twice a year to check the checkers.

Recruiting external compliance auditors is not an essential requirement for financial advisery firms, but True Bearing believes this is an important and fundamental part of their due diligence on behalf of their clients.

The top firms must have a clear and demonstrable business strategy. They must really know their clients and be able to prove it. For those adviser firms that are independent as True Bearing are, they have to demonstrate how their recommendations match client needs.

Another important factor is how the firm develops its advisers and staff. The True Bearing staff and advisers are constantly taking and passing higher level exams, vocational qualifications, personal and skill improvement workshops. They have attained Gold level for Investors In People (IIP) for the last 8 years, and have been nominated as a finalist in the National IIP Awards which will be held in London later this month.

Speaking about their recent accolade, George Critchley, chairman said: “True Bearing believes in Good Advice and Good Service. North West clients must trust us. We now have over £500m invested on behalf of our clients, and a serviced client retention rate of over 99% year on year. “However we know we can and must continue to improve. Many projects are on the go to improve the client experience and improve our quality of service. We really are the people who lie awake at night thinking how can we do this better!!”