Debbie Connolly

WHO I HELP High Net Worth Individuals. Business Owners. High Earning Executives. Trustees. HOW I HELP Financial Planning. Wealth Planning. Pension Planning. Investment Planning. Legacy Planning. Cascading Wealth Planning. “HELPING YOU FIT THE PIECES OF YOUR PLAN TOGETHER” I am a Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society within our wealth team. I am also chair of the Personal Finance Society in Northern Ireland. My role involves helping my clients understand their goals and aspirations for the future. I drill down to find out what really matters most, both now and in the future. We then work together to put a bespoke plan in place to try and achieve this. My focus is on what is most important to my clients and I try to make the complicated advice areas as simple as possible so that my clients can focus on what really matters most to them and their family. I am very knowledgeable in all aspects of financial planning, including complex areas such as Inheritance tax/Trust planning, Business relief products and Lifetime allowance issues. I have achieved Fellow status within the Personal Finance Society and Chartered status. This means that I have attained and maintained the most prestigious level of professional achievement within my profession. I also won the Financial Adviser of the year award for Northern Ireland and Scotland at the Professional Adviser Women in Financial Advice Awards 2023. TRUST IS KEY “The most crucial element in a client relationship is Trust. You need to be open and honest with each other to try and get the most out of your financial planning goals and objectives. A client/adviser relationship is normally long term and I really enjoy being there every step of the way watching my client’s life cycles change. This can even include looking after their legacy and helping the next generation. Being open and honest and to act with my clients interests at the forefront is at the heart of everything I do. To use my knowledge and expertise to help create a robust financial plan in which they can believe in. My parents have always instilled in me that “you should treat others the way you would want to be treated yourself” and I really believe this to be a fundamental part of building trust with my clients.” PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING “The most satisfying aspect of working with clients is when they start to see all the pieces of your plan fit together. It is all very well putting a plan in place, but the proof is in the pudding. Sometimes, it can take a while for clients to really understand the benefit of financial planning, but when it clicks, it really is special and gives me real job satisfaction.” ENHANCING OUR CLIENTS EXPERIENCE AND PROGRESSING THE TEAM “I absolutely love working as part of a team knowing that everyone is working towards achieving better outcomes for our clients. When you see people going the extra mile, it brings comfort and confidence that you are collaborating with great people. I also love seeing people develop and progress within their career. It is so nice seeing someone work their way up in a company and watch them grow and learn along the way, this really makes me smile.” CHALLENGING ONE ANOTHER TO ADAPT AND IMPROVE “I think to really achieve great outcomes for your clients, you must challenge the thought process both internally as a company and also the client at times. One thing that struck me when I joined AAB is that everyone has a say. If there is a way of doing things better, we will adapt and improve. If a client has certain behavioural biases, we should challenge this to see if that is truly what they believe. A compliment I received recently from a client that made smile was that I “make the complicated easy to understand and that I am also good fun and not like the typical boring financial advisers they have dealt with in the past.” Financial Services is continually changing and to be one of the top financial planning companies in the UK, you need to be able to disrupt, assess and assert yourself when you genuinely believe that what you are doing is right.” FLEXIBLE APPROACH “We need to have the technology to allow people to access their information in a way that suits their needs. I have clients who prefer nearly a 100% virtual experience to fit in with their lifestyle, but I also have more vulnerable clients who need that face-to-face advice. I have also found that business owners like to see the “whites of my eyes” so to speak at least initially. The important thing is that we take an approach that works for each client’s needs, and we should have the technology to allow us to facilitate their preferred approach.” CLIENTS ARE OUR PASSION “I want my clients to have the peace of mind that they have a plan in place and that over the medium to long term, it will work for them. It is always scary when markets are volatile for clients, but it is about zooming out, forgetting about the noise in the press and focusing on the long-term fundamentals. This can sometimes be one of the most important parts of my job – to remove or manage the emotional roller coaster of investing. The great news is, that everyone I have met at AAB has their clients at the heart of everything we do and that allows me to sleep at night too, knowing that my clients are in great hands.” LOOKING TO THE FUTURE “I want to continue my chartered adviser journey giving clients the best advice I can, with a company that is expanding rapidly due to continuous growth and success. AAB Wealth is agile and nimble and not afraid to disrupt the market. If something can be done better, more efficient or give clients a better journey, AAB will adapt and improve. Therefore, I believe so much in what we do, and the future looks very bright.”