Magenta Financial Planning, the new firm led by ex-IFP President Julie Lord, has launched.

The Wales-based business has split off from Broadway Financial Planning and began life as a separate entity yesterday.

Chartered Financial Planner Ms Lord CFPTM will run Magenta Financial Planning in a joint venture with Gretchen Betts CFPTM, who has been a colleague for years.

Cashflow modelling will be the backbone of the business, the duo have said.

Poll

Ms Betts, who will run day to day operations as MD, told Financial Planning Today: “We've been delighted with the response to the launch of the new company.

“It's a very exciting time and the whole team are really looking forward to the future.”

The pair have been at the helm of Broadway Financial Planning’s Welsh office since it was set up. Although Magenta has broken away, Ms Betts has explained that it was a “very amicable” split from the Worcestershire-based business and added that they plan to work closely with Broadway still.

The staff that Ms Betts has worked with at the Broadway’s Wales office, based in Bridgend, will remain the same, with clients switching over to the new business.

Ms Betts and Ms Lord said the new venture will give them the freedom they crave to provide a more personalised service to clients.

Ms Betts said: “It has just made sense really that we take this opportunity to break away. We have got different plans about where we see our business.
“We’ve looked at various different options but it gives us the freedom to run the business how we want to.

“It’s the freedom we have found that has been wonderful working for Broadway and we’ve been able to do that, but going forward with Magenta, it is giving Julie and I that bit of extra control.”

She said: “We’ve both worked for big corporates where we have struggled to provide the kind of care and service we have wanted to. I’ve worked for several companies where people don’t hear you.

Ms Lord said: “I’m really excited with the potential of going back to having a smaller company that can concentrate on the client relationships while outsourcing all of the other stuff like investment manager and admin and compliance.”

Ms Lord has long been a champion of cashflow lifetime forecasts and this will continue to be a central plank in Magenta’s approach, she said.

Related articles

Ex-IFP President: See another adviser if you don’t see cashflow model merits

Ms Lord told Financial Planning Today magazine last month that many planners still are not convinced of the merits of cashflow forecasts. She revealed that she tells potential clients who aren’t won over by it to see another adviser instead.

She said: “I can’t see how anyone can do Financial Planning without a cash flow model to work from. I’m very keen to help more people understand the power of cashflow modelling.”

Pictures: The Magenta team

Ms Lord said the aim for Magenta is consolidation in the first six months, focusing on the existing Broadway clients, before they press on. There are no major plans for expansion for the time being.

Experience at larger businesses has taught her, she explained, that “true Financial Planning” is only possible in a smaller operation.

Asked how existing Broadway Wales clients have reacted to the creation of Magenta, she said existing clients “love the idea of going back to small and beautiful”.