When John Home founded his business, John Home Wealth Management, in September 2012, he did so on his own with no back-office support.
Fast forward to today and he is now a Senior Partner Practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management, with a business that has grown steadily over the years, along with a team of 4 to support his bank of clients.
John is first to acknowledge how invaluable his team are to his business, stating how without them having the knowledge and expertise to deal with, as John calls them, their ‘bread and butter’ cases such as ISA investments and Money Purchase pension transfers, he would not be where he is today.
In 2016/17 when the Defined Benefit market changed, John was quick to realise this was a market he wanted to explore as part of his business.
However, given their complex nature, he felt it would be more beneficial using the experience of someone who dealt with these types of cases on a more regular basis, which led to John contacting Plus.
Outsourcing to Plus
John knew there would be difficulties in employing someone from the local area with the correct technical knowledge, whilst also being familiar with the St. James’s Place operating systems, so the decision to contact Plus seemed like the most fitting option.
However, when speaking to John, it’s clear that this decision comes not only from a resource perspective, but in having a partner he can rely on, to ensure he only takes the right cases from his clients, in keeping with their needs.
On this, John stated;
It’s an important decision, so it’s extremely useful for me to be able to get a second opinion on a case. Ultimately it helps to protect the client.
The importance of a second opinion
John’s relationship with one of our DB case specialists, Phil Collard, means he is able to get the second opinion he needs, allowing him to, in his own words to:
Have the confidence to speak to clients about Defined Benefit Cases, as I have a sounding board to discuss the merits or pitfalls of a particular case.
Both John & Phil have established a routine when it comes to submitting a case, communicating throughout the process via phone and email, so despite him not being present in the office, John feels as though he knows Phil really well!
The levels of communication extend to John’s Practice Manager, Caroline Finlayson, who Phil contacts regularly for any outstanding information he may need, so after 3 years, it has led John to see Phil as a natural extension to the team.
Profound impact
John is extremely forthcoming about how Phil’s and the rest of the Paraplanning team’s knowledge, has allowed his business to increase its scale-ability into the field of DB and IHT planning, allowing them to grow to become one of the busiest financial services businesses in the North of Scotland.
As such, John feels that the introduction of Plus Group into his Practice has had a huge impact on his business, simply stating:
Without Plus, we would have been left behind.
We are delighted to have been able to support John and his team in growing their business and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship, playing our part in generating more success for John Home Wealth Management.
For information on our Paraplanning services, contact us on 0151 559 1332, or click here to find out more.
