Finance Monthly Global Awards 2019 Edition

Finance Monthly Global Awards 2019 www.finance-monthly.com 31 UNITED KINGDOM Clearly there is evolution in achieving these, none more so than the thirst for more and more information from the client and direct access to said information on an ongoing basis which, for us means constant development of digital solutions and communication. We firmly believe that there is a balance between taking away all the headache of managing client money for them and the control they wish to keep themselves. The fundamental ideology and expectation of managing client money has not changed much in decades, the client wants to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible. What has changed is access to information and communication. What attracted you to the employee benefits field? What motivates you about working within the sector? When we first entered the employee benefit arena it was because I felt that most group benefits were quite secretive and that the client themselves had little or no influence in how they performed and or how they affected their financial future. We set about creating workshops and the provision of financial advice in the workplace and from there, we were able to use bespoke target analysis tools to project what their pension might look like for the employee individually at retirement and beyond. This was very quickly followed up by more individual analysis tools so today the employees can easily understand their financial position at almost any point going forward and what they might need to do to reach their chosen targets. These services were offered way before the current initiatives being suggested by government which incidentally we fully support. What goals are you currently working towards with the company? Our current target is to be able to offer a fully integrated, easy to understand financial services model for everyone free of initial fees and charges. This will come with the benefit of access to independent advice for everyone and a wealth management programme to absolutely look after all their money whether that be short term savings, long term investments or indeed borrowing. We are almost there with the final pieces scheduled to be in place by the end of quarter one 2019. Is there anything else you would like to add? We are proud of our service, our portfolio performance and most of all, I am proud of the team I have within Cobens. FIRM PROFILE Cobens was founded in 1987 and is a leading in- dustry specialist in employee benefits, delivering consistent, successful results. In 2012 we bought another fully independent com- pany, Astute Financial Management UK Limited and today, the group is a multi-disciplined independent financial advisory firm that is roughly split into 4 sectors • Cobens Wealth Management • Cobens Employee benefits • Cobens Direct • Cobens Australia Now, a team over 42 people, Cobens look after over 100,000 clients and in excess of £300,000,000. At the heart of all of this is our service and the man- agement of client money. Q Q Q CONTACT contact@cobens.co.uk www.cobenswealth.co.uk www.cobens.co.uk T: 0207 11 88 777 E: chris.poole@cobens.co.uk