Adviser Spring 2020

Chartering a great service - for the sixth year running

Having a Charter mark from your professional body is the ultimate accolade. It indicates that your organisation has the attained the highest levels of proficiency and quality control in your sector, and that these criteria have been independently assessed. So it was a great pleasure for the team to learn that they had been recently awarded the prestigious Chartered status for financial planning services, for the sixth year running.

The Charter award for corporate financial services is conferred by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) who are empowered by the Privy Council and is designed to ensure that only the UK’s premier Chartered firms qualify for Chartered status. The award is conferred on an annual basis and is designed to measure and assess a list of defined characteristics that according to the CII “articulate professionalism” in this field. They include providing evidence for: • Corporate governance and systems that exert appropriate levels of control over the running of the business including risk management, maintaining adequate capital, record-keeping, training and competency programmes

Encouragement of professional standards for employees through support for technical training and the development and encouragement of appropriate behaviour. Grant Buchanan, Financial Planning Partner at Scrutton Bland summarised what this award means for his team: “Having corporate Chartered status is the gold standard award for firms of financial planners. It confirms that we have satisfied rigorous qualification criteria such as retaining highly-qualified staff who are able to give independent financial advice across the board, and not just in one area such as pensions or Inheritance Tax. Using a Chartered firm means that our clients can be absolutely confident that they will be looked after by professionals who are committed to the highest standards of service.” Kurt Walsh, Compliance Officer for Scrutton Bland commented “I’m especially pleased about this year’s renewal as the CII criteria for corporate Chartered status has increased considerably over the last twelve months.”

• A culture that encourages the fair treatment of customers

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