Last week saw the team sit down and reflect on the first 6 months of this calendar year and how they have played out compared to our business plan. The plan was put together last November and looked to try and put some numbers to how 2021 could look for us as a business.

Being a new business, this isn’t an area that we have lots of experience. When we set up the business our initial plan massively underestimated the amount of activity, we would achieve but we would prefer to be prudent than set unrealistic expectations.

The 2021 plan was certainly more ambitious, but it is really pleasing to see how we have managed to continue to grow the business in line or above our plan.

From an investment perspective, the portfolios have held up well in the increased volatility experienced and are showing good gains for the year to date. Ben warned of lumpy returns in his webinar talks earlier in the year and there seems to be regular news flows that continue to prove this prediction true. Inflation is certainly a concern for many and having our portfolios with inflation targets looks a really wise decision to grow real wealth for our clients.

We also discussed the need to dip into the employment market again later this year and add another fresh face to the team. This may be a graduate or even look to employ an apprentice through the Kickstart scheme. Discussions have started and we will see what comes of that to add team member number 6 in early Autumn.

The second half of 2021 continues to look positive in terms of activity but more enjoyable now is meeting with clients who were ‘early adopters’ and have been with us for over 12 months. Those conversations are now evolving further, and it is good to see some of the original planning we did coming to fruition and discussions about next steps taking place.

The visual financial plan we put together in late 2020 is being rolled out further to really focus planning meetings and again this has been a great addition to our proposition and well received by clients.

There are further innovations in discussion for later in 2021 and all will be revealed in due course. Planning for 2022 and beyond will also take place in the coming months and we are all really excited to sit down and discuss our vision further and how we can keep the business moving forwards with our clients and people right at the centre of our universe.

Thanks for reading.