A bit like the seconds hand on a clock, things at First Wealth never stand still. But it’s important to pause and take stock now and again.
I’ve taken the opportunity this week to reflect on the changes we’ve made over the last three years, from the fast-paced growth initiated during the early days of the Pandemic to the continued progression and development of today.
B Corp
This summer will be our third anniversary of being a B Corp and we’re fast approaching our recertification.
Our B Corp working group (made up of six of our team members) continues to go from strength to strength and at the start of our financial year back in October, we had an offsite session to discuss, collaborate and review what our future plans for the business might be. We came up with the four following goals/areas to focus on:
- Ethical investing
- B Corp culture
- Being B Corp leaders
- Diversity and inclusion
We also reviewed how we could align our B Corp and shadow board groups to gain maximum impact. Our shadow board consists of four volunteer members of the wider team who are passionate about being the voice of the business – they have free reign to openly challenge decision making.
Being a B Corp leader, we challenge ourselves to help spread the word about the great things being a B Corp can bring to a business. Since becoming certified we’ve held numerous calls with other business owners (not just in financial services) and with our clients who own businesses, discussing their desire to begin the process. We’re passionate about being a business for good and encouraging positive change through our actions, and one of these is helping others to learn from the lessons we’ve learnt.
EMI Share Option scheme
At the beginning of March, we launched the businesses EMI Share Option scheme.
Everybody within the business was allocated a percentage of shares based on their role and longevity within the business and the impact they make. In addition, we‘re currently looking to replace our discretionary bonus structure with a profit-share arrangement, which we feel is more aligned to our B Corp values of encouraging action and growth for good, rather than tying fee splits in with new business targets. With the profit-share arrangement each employee would benefit equally regardless of their position within the business.
Education, education, education
To add strength to our quality and training initiatives, we’ve introduced a Head of Learning and Development role. This role is vital in ensuring the mentorship and coaching of new joiners into the business, as well as supporting growth and education to the highest level for all employees.
The role carries the responsibility for holding regular development reviews with each member, supporting training whether on an individual or group basis, while also ensuring processes and procedures remain fit for purpose.
At First Wealth we run a diamond team structure which allows for camaraderie, team building, learning and progression more efficiently. Each client meeting has two people from the team present, which enables the financial planner to focus on the client. It also allows us to help streamline the ongoing activities for managing a client relationship, by having a stronger structure for looking after our clients.
Our financial planning educational channel, Thrive Money, saw the official launch of the online site back in January. My colleagues Robert Caplan and Phoebe Ellis have worked tirelessly on being able to offer a fully supported resource for those wanting to learn more about their finances and how to protect their financial futures.
There are too many different people posing on social media as ‘experts’ that those with more limited finances are being led into making decisions by unqualified individuals, which could be detrimental to their current and future financial positions. Thrive Money is available to other employers to support and benefit their teams.
We’ve also recently held sessions with another financial planning firm whereby we demonstrated the value in what we deliver as a business with our ‘Your Financial Plan’. It’s important for us to seek guidance from others – this enables us to identify any blind spots, or to hold ourselves accountable for our own actions in managing our financial affairs.
Walking the walk
And finally, we moved our employee pension scheme to another provider at the backend of 2021, so they could also benefit from the same Evidence Based Investment models we recommend to our clients. In addition, each employee has access to Thrive Money’s educational services and to cashflow forecasting and financial planning with a Chartered Financial Planner within the firm.
So, as you can see, we continue to be a business for good that continues to create positive change!