Financial services group Old Mill has expanded its later life offering with a professionally accredited advice service for vulnerable clients.
Andy Page, one of Old Mill’s expert in its later life team, has become one of just a handful of financial planners in the UK to achieve the Step Advanced Certificate in Advising Vulnerable Clients.
Awarded by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Step), it is a programme for professionals advising those with issues of mental and physical capacity, covering the legislative, welfare, financial and practical issues surrounding the care and advice provided to vulnerable clients and their families.
Page said: “The Step programme is the most comprehensive and in-depth course that professionals can complete in this area, and while it is not a level of knowledge demanded of financial planners advising vulnerable clients, it was one I wanted to complete to gain a much more thorough understanding of the mental capacity legal landscape.
“There are currently around a million people with dementia in the UK – up from 800,000 in 2015 – so advising vulnerable clients is becoming much more common, and the legalities around it much more complicated. I was therefore keen to obtain much wider and deeper understanding of the legal side of things, and the impact they have on vulnerable people and their families, so I could offer the very best advice to my clients.”
Paula Hodge, head of wealth management at Old Mill, added: “At Old Mill, our clients’ best interests are at the heart of everything we do, which is why we are continually looking at ways in which we can enhance our services to offer real value and differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
“Andy’s success in achieving the Step Advanced Certificate in Advising Vulnerable Clients is testament to this, and we are really proud of him and the enhanced service he is now able to offer.”
