After 17 years of working for a much larger financial advice company, the time was right for Jim to strike out on his own and build a new company.  Jim wanted control of the processes, policies and culture of the business and where possible to avoid the bureaucracy of a large corporation.

Financial advice is a people business and is most successful when you build long-lasting relationships.  It would be much easier for Verdant Financial Planning Ltd to use only 1 or 2 providers or have our own investment proposition but every piece of advice we give is unique to the person we give it to.  We will therefore be proudly independent and whole of market. Each client will be an individual and not treated as an entry on a spreadsheet or shoe-horned into something that suits the business more than the client.

We don’t want to have glossy brochures depicting silver haired couples, walking hand in hand on a beach or driving a red sports car through the South of France. We will avoid the clichés as much as possible.

The name Verdant was selected as it means green, lush and rich.  Green is also the colour of money (well it is if you are American or still have old £1 notes) so it was a good fit.

But mainly the name was chosen as we want to be as ethically minded as possible.  We will talk to all our clients about any ethical concerns they have when investing money and will ensure we advise on a large range of ESG (environmental, social and governance) funds.   ESG funds are very different to historic ethical funds and have fewer investment restrictions.  

We also aim to give something back each year.  A big problem with the role of a financial adviser is often driving and sadly we do a lot of miles.  In time, we aim to be carbon neutral.  Watch this space.

We will also be as active as possible in the communities where we and our clients live.   Some of our profits will be given to charity or local clubs or we may volunteer where needed.

‍