Birchwood Investment Management Ltd believes that our current and future clients deserve only the best levels of service when it comes to helping them with financial advice. Therefore, by investing in our staff and allowing them the flexibility to study, it means they will feel supported and encouraged to go on and achieve their best individually, for the organisation and its clients.
Qualifying as a Chartered Financial Planner involves many years of study and examinations alongside working in the industry, which is why at Birchwood Investment Management Ltd we are extremely proud of Lee Garner, one of our regulated advisers.
Lee achieved Chartered status in June 2018 at the age of 30. He was also published as one of ‘New Model Advisers top 35 under 35’ alongside some very reputable names and directors in the industry.
Lee’s journey into financial planning started In Summer 2013, when he was accepted into Financial Adviser School (FAS). In October 2013, he achieved his Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning (the minimum needed to be an adviser).
In August 2014, Lee realised that the FAS alone would not get him to the levels he wished to achieve and started working as an administrator for the IFA focussing on the mortgage industry. Coming towards the end of his training in May 2015 and needing to utilise his knowledge of pension and investments in the work place, he joined us here at Birchwood as a Paraplanner for one of our advisers.
Lee became authorised by Birchwood in January 2016 (CF30), allowing him to advise directly and he started managing a small bank of clients. He started studying towards his Chartered status alongside other exams, as he felt less experienced than the other advisers, whilst also attending numerous industry conferences and client meetings. At this stage of his career Lee said “New clients continued to be passed to me and I increased my knowledge, wanting to demonstrate my passion and commitment and to give them reassurance and peace of mind that they could achieve their life and financial goals”.
Up until June 2018, working full-time as an adviser, he was also caring for his daughter alongside work and study. In June 2018 he achieved his APFS (advanced diploma in financial planning) and was awarded his Chartered Adviser status from PFS (The Personal Finance Society) – following 5 years in the industry as well as the time he spent working part-time in insurance during his university studies.
Lee continued to study during 2018 and went on to become a Fellow – the highest level awarded by PFS. He has been given numerous permissions to deal with equity release, long term care, discretionary investments and achieved his Pension Transfer Specialist exam, after which he became one of Birchwood Investment Management Ltd’s Pension Transfer Specialists. He is also involved in delivering company workshops as part of our Financial Education in the Workplace services in line with outplacement companies and HR departments.
Lee commented “I really want clients to have peace of mind that Birchwood Investment Management Ltd are looking after their financial affairs in line with their own personal objectives. I like to fully understand their individual situation and what they want to achieve for their families. Due to achieving my fellow status at such a young age, I hope to see many clients up to and through their retirement.”
Each key member of our team is professionally qualified in their particular specialty, with experience in financial analysis, insurance and banking, meaning that we can offer a wide range of knowledge for every client circumstance. Our aim is to retain our talent and make sure they feel fulfilled in their roles and enjoy their time working here.