"The Purposeful Group journey commenced back in 2011, when I started a new role as CFO for one of the first companies in the IFA sector, which planned to acquire and integrate financial planning businesses.

Having worked for an investment bank, I can attest that financial services is a broad church and I enjoyed a very steep learning curve, over nearly 4 years. Having served my wealth management apprenticeship, I decided to decline an invitation to relocate to Plymouth (coincidentally, where I grew up), which ultimately led to Purposeful Group being founded in 2017 (originally called Finitor Wealth). We have now acquired 8 businesses across the country including FMB, have nearly 100 staff, and over 4,000 clients.

Informed by my experience in professional services, banking, and wealth management, I was convinced we could build a company designed to recognise all stakeholders as a core guiding principle to everything we do. Think of a business as a community of staff, clients, shareholders, suppliers, regulators, and government bodies, which are all interconnected. Considering every party and their connections when making decisions is the foundation of a stakeholder led approach. Valuing the local expertise of each firm we have acquired is an example of this.

Whereas we place immense value on the regional expertise of each group firm, in other instances it makes sense to centralise and benefit from scale. This is particularly the case with technology suppliers, product providers, and some business functions (e.g. there is no need for more than one finance department!). This naturally leads to integrating the businesses, and from the perspective of clients, you will start to see some changes, including the Purposeful brand popping up, such as on our own platform and in due course on the client portal.

Back in November, all the financial planners gathered in London for our first conference. I did a presentation on the sustainability and integration model of the Normans! It might feel like a stretch to draw comparisons with William the Conqueror, but the underlying message was important. We are building a sustainable business, designed to last and provide you and your families with quality, dependable advice through the course of your lifetimes. I would hope that is a positive message for all our clients.

Finally, should you have any questions about who the Purposeful Group are, please speak to your adviser, or feel free to drop me an email."

- Richard Rhodes, The Purposeful Group CEO