The voice of business in the Tees region | 49
Liza Pontone was recently
appointed as an ambassador
for the Chartered Insurance
Institute’s Insuring Women’s
Futures programme.
ACTIVE ADOPT THE
PENSION TRANSFER
GOLD STANDARD
A
Andrew Gilmore volunteers his time as
an education officer with the Personal
Finance Society.
second consecutive time in 2017.
IIP said Active “has a strong focus on
building employees’ skills and capabilities”.
IIP also identified that the firm’s investment
in people development directly correlated
with its credibility in the industry and in turn
enhanced client confidence.
This was further recognised in 2018 when
Active won North East Employer of the
Year at the Federation of Small Businesses
Awards and most recently in 2019 we were
named as one of the Best Financial Advisers
to Work For at the national Professional
Adviser Awards.
We are also committed to supporting
wider initiatives that benefit our local
communities as well as develop our own
profession.
As a firm, we are proud patrons of
Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic
Foundation (MTPF) and a corporate partner
of the High Tide Foundation.
Such is our drive to give back, that several
of our team also work with local charities,
including managing director Karl Pemberton,
who is a trustee for the MTPF, Mark Dobing
(independent financial adviser), director for
Making Something Happen and myself as
trustee for the High Tide Foundation.
Our Liza Pontone (chartered financial
planner) was recently appointed
ambassador for the CII’s Insuring Women’s
Futures programme.
The national programme was established
for professionals in the sector to raise
awareness on the important subject of
financial security for all women and to help
close the pensions gender gap.
Andrew Gilmore (chartered financial
planner) volunteers his time as an education
officer with the Personal Finance Society,
working with students to help them
understand the importance of financial
planning.
So, in an extremely densely populated
industry, where on paper we can all
technically do the same job, would you
want to deal with someone who “just
meets the desired standards”, or would you
prefer to deal with a firm that goes above
and beyond to exceed them?
Would you like to find out more?
Contact Active today on 01642 765957
ctive Chartered Financial
Planners is one of only a small
number of firms in the region
to have adopted the Personal Finance
Society’s Pension Transfer Gold
Standard.
The Gold Standard is a voluntary
code of professional standards
based on principles of good practice
in safeguarded and defined benefit
pension transfer advice. It aims to
raise consumer confidence in the
industry and is designed to encourage
firms to be open and transparent
when supporting customers who are
transferring their pensions.
In Teesside, only a select number of
firms have adopted the Gold Standard.
The key principles behind the Gold
Standard include helping clients to
understand when advice is appropriate,
ensuring the client understands and
accepts all charges and helping clients
to understand the cost of transferring
benefits.
Director Paul Gibson said: “At Active,
we constantly strive to improve how
we deliver our service, whether this
is through our gold level Investors in
People, the commitment we make
to training and developing our staff,
including a number of our team now
having chartered status, or adopting the
Gold Standard principles for pension
transfer advice.
“As a firm, Active has advised on
almost £28m of pension funds in the
last 12 months alone, and it’s essential
that our clients feel confident in our
advice.
“The code that the Personal Finance
Society has set out is purely voluntary,
however, we believe that it is important
to show our customers that we have
chosen to meet the highest standards
possible and that we are an ethical and
trustworthy firm.
“We won’t rest on our laurels now
that we’ve adopted the Gold Standard.
We will continue to develop our
excellent technical skills to meet and
exceed our customers’ expectations.”
activefinancialplanners.co.uk
#TheClearAdvantage