Albion House Adviser Zoe celebrates Success.

The team at Albion House Wealth Management got a significant boost recently when colleague Zoe Whitehead completed her Level 4 Diploma in regulated financial planning and training with the SJP Financial Adviser Academy Achieving Financial Adviser Certification.

The award means Zoe is now a fully qualified Financial Adviser and it marks a significant milestone in her career and enhancing the quality of financial services offered to clients.

“The Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning is recognised as one of the premier certifications in the financial services industry, with its commitment to excellence, ethics, and ongoing education. This achievement demonstrates Zoe’s dedication to providing clients with the highest standard of financial planning and advisory services,” said Albion Director, Richard Eastwood.

“Zoe has worked hard to achieve this award, working full time as a paraplanner as well as studying for her diploma which is illustrative of her strong commitment to our clients and to the team and I’m thrilled to have such a qualified and dedicated professional working with us,” added Richard

With this new certification, Zoe is now even better equipped to assist clients with comprehensive financial planning, including retirement planning, investment planning, tax strategies, and estate planning.

Commenting on her success Zoe said: “I am honoured to have earned my diploma, the hardest bit was getting through the six core exams, but it has been worth all the hard work to now have achieved the qualification and be able to start meeting with clients.

“I am now looking forward to continuing to help the clients at Albion House Wealth Management navigate their financial futures with confidence.”

Here is what Zoe has to say about life as a Financial Adviser and what led her to a career in this area:

What attracted you to financial advice in the first place? Financial advice was something I knew nothing about before I started in this job. I had no idea about pensions or investments and how important they are. After working at Albion House Wealth Management for a few months I took a real interest in the subject and completed my first exam in 2021. There are six exams required to obtain the Level 4 diploma and I completed the final exam in July 2024.

How do you see Practices changing in the next ten years? Financial advice is always changing which makes it interesting as there can be new legislation and new products introduced any time.

How will you keep up to date with financial trends? We take part in regular training and receive weekly articles on changes to investments.

Who is a typical client? There is no typical client, financial planning can be for everyone. There is a misconception that it is only for the wealthy, but everyone has a planning need even if they don’t realise it.  

What does your typical day involve? Meeting with clients in the main and helping them to meet financial goals.

What is your career ambition? I plan to start building my own client base and will be working towards achieving chartered status in the next few years.

What do you enjoy most about your role? I enjoy working closely with clients, building new relationships and helping people meet financial goals.

Why should people get financial advice? People of any age should get financial advice, be it saving for a house, saving for retirement or saving for their children/grandchildren, there is no age limit to getting to right advice.

What advice would you give your younger self? Have the confidence to pursue the things you want, I have never been confident with exams which made starting my diploma qualification quite daunting at first, however, I soon realised I had more knowledge from having worked in the industry than I even knew.