2022-03-22 GDD

Our approach to advice
We believe in giving clear professional opinions to our customers setting out exactly how
and why they should act. While we respect customers may not always wish to follow our
advice, we believe it important they be placed in position to evaluate the risks and
consequences of not doing so.
We do not believe in undertaking transactions that we reasonably believe may be imprudent
and against our customer’s interests. We do not, therefore, provide execution only services,
ie where clients instruct us to carry out transactions without advice.
We believe that fairness to our customers is key. This means ensuring they get fair value
and are aware of our costs before committing to proceed. Our charging tariffs are intended
to provide a quality service at a highly competitive rate.
We do not believe financial advisers should decide for their clients but place the client in a
position to decide themselves. That includes recommending products, or strategies, that
clients are not capable of fully understanding or confident in managing.
We believe that basic financial products, ie those with the least complexity and greatest
transparency, usually provide best value for clients. We are therefore cautious in
considering anything offering unusual guarantees, low costs, high returns, or tax
advantages.
We do not believe in encouraging clients to undertake transactions for which there is no
immediate tangible benefit. Neither do we recommend transactions where the practical
benefits are likely to be outweighed by the cost.
We believe in quality and technical excellence. All research and preparation of advice is
carried out in-house and subject to a rigorous peer review. We invest significantly in the
ongoing training and competence of our staff with each individual having a supervised
development plan.
Page 9 of 34 General Disclosure Document 23/3/2022