Challenge

Ascendis have an established reputation as a leading North West accountancy practice, with offices in both Manchester and Wilmslow. Their team of over 30 staff work closely with fast growing businesses and entrepreneurs. At the core of the business is a philosophy of total involvement with their clients’ affairs and the desire to offer a full range of specialist services covering all financial matters. Pareto and Ascendis share the same ‘all matters financial’ ethos and commitment to client care which made Pareto the perfect partners to establish an in-house financial planning proposition at Ascendis to further service the businesses growing client base.

Solution

Ascendis and Pareto have worked closely together to identify and embed a suitable financial adviser into the Ascendis organisation. The selection criteria is key to ongoing success as the adviser must both fit into Ascendis company culture, working with the existing team to identify opportunities for growth and work well with their existing client base understanding and aligning service provision to their needs. The dedicated Pareto adviser now works from their office for a pre-agreed number of days weekly with flexibility factored in to accommodate client meetings and demand. Ascendis now offer a fully integrated financial planning service, which is promoted internally throughout the business and to clients, via an integrated web presence and dedicated email newsletter.

Results

The relationship has gone from strength to strength over the past 12 months as the new service offering has been fully integrated into the business. Ascendis clients have welcomed the service. Working lunches frequently take place with the Ascendis team to educate them on different areas of the financial planning proposition to enable them to effectively drive client awareness of the services. The partnership is on track to generate in excess of £15k in new business revenue for Ascendis during 19/20, and plans are in place to further grow revenue in 20/21