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In the years since Adviser Lounge was started we have been witness to many discussions. We’ve had the sharing of good practice, observation and commentary, and the more than occasional rant!
After a bit of a break, we’re back in the lounge, and eager to get chatting again thanks to the support of The Financial Planning Development Hub.
Having a place to share thoughts, opinions and good practice has never more important. It’s a great time to be an adviser, with the development of new skills and services such as cash flow, planning, and soft skills. So, we’d like you to join us in the lounge. You might just want to listen in and not say anything, which is fine. If you do want to post content or comments, that’s fantastic, but we do have a few rules:
If you want to promote stuff, feel free, but make it interesting. If it’s boring, no one will read it, and what’s the point of that?
Nothing anonymous. Got something to say? Say it and stand by it. That’s why we need you to log in.
Although articles and comments are moderated, we won’t censor your opinion.
This is only a tip, but try and keep it positive. Few people can carry off an entertaining, Kermodian-type rant. If you want to engage with people, share ideas.
That’s it! We’re not here to tell you what to do. We’re here to plump the cushions, bring you hot drinks and snacks, and help get the conversation going.
So, come on into the Adviser Lounge, grab a coffee, perch on a sofa, and let’s all put the world to rights!
Want to contribute? Hit the CONTRIBUTE link at the top of any page, and get in touch. Or, comment at the bottom of an article!
That’s all very well and good, but who are you?
The Lounge is run by volunteers. We really honestly are doing this for the good of the profession. The team is always evolving but at the moment we are:
Adam Owen, Overseer-in-Chief and Sustainer-of-Things
Adam keeps the light on at Adviser Lounge. He arranges sponsorship and helps us decide general direction. Adam is a gentleman of many talents. He’s had a long and illustrious career in financial services but that doesn’t mean he’s over the hill! He has a few day-jobs, but you might have seen him;
Helping to set strategic direction for the financial planning profession as a PFS board member;
Designing awesome training and development programs and supporting projects like NextGen Planners;
Improving access to training services via his Financial Planning Development Hub, a not-for-profit directory of top-notch trainers and coaches;
Drawing pretty impressive sketches on his iPad while he should be listening to speakers at conferences;
Winning the competition for most letters after one’s name;
Totally killing it on guitar on the weekends in his covers band;
Chris Budd, Editor-in-Chief
Chris is going to decide whether what you want to talk about is interesting enough for us to post. He is really a man who needs no introduction in the world of financial planning, but we’ll try anyway:
Formerly “benevolent dictator” at Ovation Financial Planning in Bristol
Writer of the much-loved “Financial Wellbeing Book” – all profits from sales of which go to the Penny Brohn cancer charity
Host of the Financial Wellbeing Podcast
Seller of Ovation Financial Planning to an Employee Ownership Trust and author of the “Eternal Business” book, to help you if you’re considering the same
Designer and deliverer-er of the Eternal Business programme – for people who have read the book or heard him talk and want to put ideas into action
Business coach, offering (we’re told) “generally alright coaching at reasonable rates!“
Alasdair Walker, General dogsbody and Fixer-of-Stuff-when-it-goes-wrong
When not trying to change the world one Tweet at a time, or raving about coffee, Alasdair is trying to keep the ship afloat here at the Lounge. That means (re)designing the website, keeping the conversation going, trying to stop the servers falling over when somebody writes something that gets people flocking to us. When not lounging around here Alasdair is
a Chartered Financial Planner at Hunter Aitkenhead & Walker, in his words “a provincial practice offering proper financial planning” – he didn’t intend the alliteration
attempting to help share best-practice with the PFS Financial Planning Practitioner Panel
trying to work out how to keep his toddler entertained at the weekend
Tammy Devonald, Social Media Expert, Tweet-handler and Article Publisher
It’s fair to say that Chris and Adam don’t “get” social media. Something about them being too old… Tammy makes sure we actually let people know when interesting stuff gets posted and also makes the posts actually work! She’s also;
“Ringleader Of Creative Operations” at Ovation – you’ll have to ask her what that means, though!
Seriously knowledgeable about board-games. We’re not talking Monopoly here. Rumour has it she has over 300 of them in her collection – we can only imagine she has to rent a storage container to hold them all