Helping IFAs and financial planners build the practice they actually want
You’re good at what you do. The challenge isn’t technical knowledge – it’s finding the time to work on your practice, not just in it.
Ready to find out if coaching is right for you? Book a free 20-minute introductory call.
Is this for you?
You might be at one of these points:
- You’ve done an MBO or bought out your practice and the business decisions now land with you
- You’re going through direct FCA authorisation and building the infrastructure to match
- You’re leaving (or thinking about leaving) a larger firm or network – by choice or because the culture changed around you – and starting something of your own
- Your firm has been acquired and things feel different, but you haven’t yet decided what, if anything, to do about it
- You’ve built a practice you’re proud of, but you’re working too many hours and something needs to change
- You’re growing a team and finding that managing people is a different skill from managing clients
What these situations have in common: the work that used to be your whole job is now only part of it.
Client reviews, year-end tax-planning, investment recommendations and implementations are your bread and butter, it’s what you’ve been trained to do. The rest – strategy, leadership, delegation, building systems, deciding what kind of practice you want – doesn’t come with a manual. Consolidation and AI are rapidly changing the landscape, bringing both opportunity and uncertainty.
And there aren’t many people you can talk to about it honestly. Your business partner is too close to it. Your team looks to you for the answers. Your clients don’t need to know.
What coaching actually does
My clients don’t usually come to coaching because something has gone badly wrong. They come because they’re running hard and there’s no space to think.
We create that space.
In practice, that means regular sessions – some joint if you have a business partner, some individual – where the agenda is yours: what’s on your mind, what’s not getting done, what decisions you’re avoiding, what you want the next year to look like.
From those conversations, things move. Not because I tell you what to do, but because thinking things through out loud, with someone asking the right questions and holding you to account, produces clarity that’s hard to find alone, especially where there is uncertainty about what comes next.
Most clients notice two things fairly quickly: they start making progress on things that had been sitting untouched for months; and the practice starts to feel less like something that’s happening to them.
As financial planning recruiter James Barden of The FIMS Consultancy put it to me: “Advisers can’t compartmentalise between advising and business owning. They’re either advising or they’re trying to do something on the business, and there’s no space for strategy.“
The things that come up most often:
- Strategic priorities – what actually needs to happen (and when) versus what just feels urgent
- Delegation – how to hand things over without losing sleep about the outcome
- Time and diary management – protecting the time that matters
- Team culture – moving from a group of individuals to something that actually functions as a team
- Work and life – building a practice that fits around the life you want, not the other way round
- Goals and direction – getting clear on where you’re heading, individually and as a practice
What clients say
Gary Nash and Jack Jennings, Financial Initiatives Limited
Gary and Jack are the owners of Financial Initiatives Limited, an independent financial planning practice. They came to coaching during their MBO and whilst in the process of applying for direct FCA authorisation.
“Coaching has helped us actually do some of those things. And that’s a good feeling. The big shift for me has been how to better structure and manage my diary. I am seeing the benefits of taking that time out.” – Gary Nash
“It’s got us talking together on these business matters where before we probably had our own thoughts and didn’t act on them. Learning from each other has helped as well. I’m clearer on my goals. I know pretty much where I want to be next year, in terms of number of clients, amount of work, who I want to be taking on, when to say no. I’ve learnt how to delegate and free up time in a way that doesn’t sacrifice too much in terms of business revenues or client relationships.” – Jack Jennings
James Badcock, founder and CEO of Dialogue Private Office, independent family office consultant
James spent his career in law before setting up his own consultancy practice. He’s not an IFA, but the challenges of building a sustainable independent practice are recognisable across professions.
“The coaching has given more structure and sustainable infrastructure to my personal practice, and helped me develop practices for organising my day and prioritising tasks, so I keep on top of client work and stay on top of deadlines. It’s created space to focus on what I want to achieve.” – James Badcock
For more client results, visit the testimonials page.
Why me?
I’m not an IFA, and I won’t pretend otherwise.
What I bring is 20+ years working in the private wealth sector, 12 of them at Stonehage Fleming, a leading multi-family office, where I worked alongside wealth planners and investment managers as a private client lawyer. I know the world you operate in, the clients you serve and the pressures that come with working in an FCA-regulated business.
I also spent years advising families on succession – not just the legal mechanics, but the difficult conversations about wealth, control and what happens next. That work taught me a lot about how people make decisions under pressure, and how to help them think clearly when the stakes are high.
I left Stonehage Fleming after a PE acquisition changed the culture of the business. I understand from personal experience what it feels like when the place you’ve built your career in starts to feel like somewhere else.
I qualified as an executive coach through the Animas Centre for Coaching and have been working with professionals in financial services, accountancy and law since 2022.
How it works
Initial conversation: A free no-obligation 20-minute call to understand where you are and whether coaching makes sense. No pitch, no pressure.
If we decide to work together: Typically sessions of 60 minutes by video call. Joint sessions if you have a business partner you want to include. Individual sessions alongside those if that’s useful.
Commitment: I work with clients to design a programme and schedule which fits them. We can discuss what makes sense for your situation.
One more thing
If you’ve been to a Dimensional or Vanguard event, or you’re in the TRAP (The Real Adviser Podcast) community, you may have heard other financial planners talk about the value of having a thinking partner outside the business. That’s what this is.
It won’t transform your practice overnight. But it will give you the space to think more clearly, move on the things you’ve been putting off and build the practice you actually intended to build.
About me
I’m an executive coach and the founder of the Private Wealth Professionals Circle, a peer group for senior advisers in the ultra-high-net-worth space. I spent 20 years as a private client lawyer, including 12 years at Stonehage Fleming. I’m based in Hertfordshire and work with clients across the UK and internationally.