At Chase de Vere, we prioritise the continuous professional development of our financial advisers to ensure they provide exceptional independent financial advice to our clients.
Byron Williams, an adviser from our Bath office, exemplifies this commitment. Byron has been qualified as a Chartered Financial Planner since 2014, and he has recently achieved his 10-year re-accreditation with the Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA).
SOLLA is dedicated to helping individuals and their families find trusted, accredited financial advisers who understand the unique financial needs of those in later life. It is committed to maintaining high standards and ensuring accessibility to regulated financial advice for older adults and their families.
The SOLLA accreditation process, including the rigorous re-accreditation every five years, is challenging. Consequently, there are only just over 1,000 SOLLA accredited advisers in the UK. Byron, along with Catriona Smith from our Glasgow office, is among the select group of approximately 100 advisers who have achieved their 10-year accreditation.
Byron’s re-accreditation involved submitting an application detailing his learning and development in areas such as long-term care and equity release. He then completed an assessment over Teams, which consisted of a 1.5-hour interview with an assessor to evaluate his knowledge, discuss his ongoing learning and an in-depth case study, considering a variety of options and detailed advice for a hypothetical client scenario.
Reflecting on his achievement, Byron says, “I’m delighted to be reaccredited with SOLLA, the leading professional body for later life advice. This advice encompasses much more than just long-term care and equity release; it includes understanding State Benefits, dealing with Local Authorities and the Court of Protection, Power of Attorney, and more. These are complex areas, and so it is crucial that we can provide expert independent financial advice.”