SPONSORED CONTENT: 7IM's Elaine brings advice with a personal touch to the Highlands
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Investing for the future is a complicated business, which is why many of us could do with some friendly, knowledgeable advice to help navigate the potential pitfalls.
This is just what Elaine McLachlan, private client director at the wealth management firm 7IM, provides.
Elaine, who is based in Inverness and works out of 7IM’s Edinburgh office, can draw on over 30 years of experience, including stints in institutional fund management. However, it’s her current private client role which she finds most rewarding.
“What I really like about the private client side is working closely with my clients and really getting to know them,” she said.
“It’s their money and it’s really important that I look after it and look after them, so I actually feel more responsibility than I did when I was looking after institutional clients.
“It’s about becoming a trusted adviser and that is really nice.”
That personal approach matches the ethos of 7IM, which was founded in a City of London basement just over 20 years ago by seven financial services professionals who were dissatisfied with the options for investing their own money. Now employing 450 staff and with offices in London and Edinburgh, that growth has been driven by a commitment to providing an unrivalled client-focused financial planning and investment management advice service.
“It’s a very complicated job just to manage money, never mind advise on pensions, tax, bonds and similar areas, so we separate out investment management and financial planning,” Elaine said.
“The goal is to provide a full financial service and help our clients achieve what they want for their money.”
While 7IM’s clients tend to be high-net worth investors, there is a wide age profile and a correspondingly wide range of investment expectations and ambitions.
This is why it is so important for Elaine to get to know her clients and understand what they want to achieve with their investments.
She said: “It could be they are thinking about extra income for retirement, or they have an inheritance they don’t want to put in the bank because interest is not keeping up with inflation, so it’s about getting to understand them and where that pot of money sits within their overall financial situation. There is a lot to be discussed before we get to the investment stage.”
Managing financial risk is a big focus for 7IM, which has its own specialist risk management team, Elaine added.
“You have to take risks, otherwise you shouldn’t be investing at all, but it’s about managing those risks and taking a disciplined approach to managing your money,” Elaine said.
“Our conservative approach means our investments hold up pretty well during turbulent times, but the most important thing is to stay invested and not panic and want to take their money out, but that has not happened with my clients because I always talk to them and help them understand their options.”
Having run an investment group’s Inverness office for 15 years, a lot of Elaine’s clients are in the Highlands, but she has others across the UK.
Wherever they are based, however, they have one thing in common.
“Whether I’m talking to clients in London or Inverness, everyone wants their money to work harder for them so where they live doesn’t make much difference,” she said.
“But equally, 7IM are happy to have me spend time in Inverness because they want to develop more business in the Highlands.”
7IM might not have an actual office in the area, but that is no handicap, Elaine believes.
“More often than not I visit clients at home or meet for a coffee, so I don’t think we need a physical office,” she said. “That personal contact is much more important.”
Not only is Elaine passionate about helping individuals manage their wealth, but she is also an ambassador for Future Asset, a charity working hard to encourage girls in secondary school in Scotland to look at the world of investment. By working with the charity, Elaine is playing her part in influencing the next generation of wealth managers.
Elaine and the private client team at 7IM work with individuals with £500,000 or more of investable assets, as well as charities, trusts and company investment portfolios. Whether they’re looking for help in growing their wealth, planning for retirement with pension planning or passing wealth on to the next generation, 7IM works with their clients to achieve their financial goals.
You should be aware that the value of investments may go up and down and you may receive back less than you invested originally. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
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