Financial Affairs

Financial Affairs: insurance broking and financial planning from Pendle

Financial Affairs operates as an insurance broker and financial planner through two regulated companies: Financial Affairs Wealth Solutions Ltd and Financial Affairs Insurance Solutions Ltd. Both are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and share the same contact telephone and email. The firm presents its services around two pillars, Wealth Solutions and Insurance Solutions, and describes its approach as providing security and freedom of choice for financial planning needs.

The business is based at Northlight, Northlight Parade, Pendle BB9 5EG, with the wealth company at 36A and the insurance company at 36B. The group also uses the trading styles AD Wealth, Margins and Owen & Ewing.

Wealth Solutions

Under its Wealth Solutions arm, Financial Affairs provides financial planning intended to give clients security and freedom of choice. The firm has developed a framework called Financial Wellness, which it describes as knitting together all elements of financial planning to give an overall assessment of a client's current financial health. According to the company, the assessment determines the degree to which a client's financial situation and financial capability will provide security and freedom of choice, focusing on objectives and goals rather than on the individual.

The firm offers a Financial Wellness Calculator, presented as a simple tool that gives a summary of where a person's finances stand. The website also includes a booking facility for appointments.

Insurance Solutions

Financial Affairs states that it is not a traditional insurance broker and provides insurance for both individuals and businesses. The firm frames its insurance work around helping clients become risk resilient and providing financial wellbeing. Its service pages cover both personal and business insurance, and the company notes that it manages personal and business policies that clients may previously have held across multiple providers.

Heritage and approach

The firm traces its origins to 1971, when Michael O'Connor was financial controller at Associated Co-Operatives Creameries, responsible for the milk supply to the North East of England. Frustrated that an insurance broker would not visit to go through a renewal in detail despite a premium of £10,000, he worked through the paperwork himself. In 1972 he left accountancy to establish a brokerage offering face-to-face access to insurance expertise for organisations that could not justify retaining it in house. The company notes that this model, later commonly known as outsourcing, evolved to include financial planning and personal insurance services.

According to Laurence O'Connor, the firm remains committed to a traditional comprehensive service delivered face to face, at a comparable cost to online or streamlined alternatives, in contrast to competitors that use technology to remove direct interaction with clients.

Services and client base

The website lists Wealth Solutions and Insurance Solutions as its two main service areas, alongside a Financial Wellness Calculator, appointment booking, a blog, and pages on acquisitions and working with the firm. The firm addresses both individual clients and businesses, with services spanning retirement planning, mortgages, pensions, personal insurance and business insurance as described in client testimonials. It also states that it handles both personal and business policies for clients.

Regulatory details

Financial Affairs Wealth Solutions Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference 606614 and is registered in England under company number 08629404. Financial Affairs Insurance Solutions Ltd is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference 924720 and is registered in England under company number 12194933. Financial Affairs Holdings Limited is registered in England & Wales under number 01807791. Complaints can be addressed in writing to Financial Affairs at 36 Northlight, Northlight Parade, Pendle, BB9 5EG, by telephone on 01282 452255 or by email to laurence@financialaffairs.co.uk.