Old Mill enhances later life offering by achieving STEP Advanced Certificate in Advising Vulnerable Clients

01 March 2022

Financial experts Old Mill has enhanced its later life offering with a new professionally accredited advice service for vulnerable clients.

Andy Page, one of Old Mill’s expert later life team has become one of just a handful of financial planners in the UK to achieve the STEP Advanced Certificate in Advising Vulnerable Clients.

Awarded by STEP - the global body for professionals that help families plan for their futures - it is one of the most in depth programmes for professionals advising those with issues of mental and physical capacity, covering the legislative, welfare, financial and practical issues surrounding the care and advice provided to vulnerable clients and their families.

Due to the legal complexities within the course, the Advanced Certificate is usually completed by solicitors specialising in the field; Andy’s success is achieving the qualification will enhance Old Mill’s already comprehensive later life service and differentiate its offering from other financial planning firms.

Speaking about why he completed the certificate, Andy said: “The STEP programme is the most comprehensive and in-depth course that professionals can complete in this area, and while it is not a level of knowledge demanded of financial planners advising vulnerable clients, it was one I wanted to complete to gain a much more thorough understanding of the mental capacity legal landscape.

“There are currently around a million people with dementia in the UK - up from 800,000 in 2015* - so advising vulnerable clients is becoming much more common, and the legalities around it much more complicated. I was therefore keen to obtain much wider and deeper understanding of the legal side of things, and the impact they have on vulnerable people and their families, so I could offer the very best advice to my clients.”

Following his studies, Andy is keen to share his heightened knowledge and understanding so is running a webinar on the practicalities of being the attorney of a vulnerable person - an area that has not been widely covered to date.

“Most of the content out there is around Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA), and about the importance of having one in place,” explains Andy, “yet there is very little about who you should appoint as your LPA and practically no help for those actually performing the role. Thanks to what I have learned on the STEP course, I can now help advice those in this situation.”

Paula Hodge, Head of Wealth Management at Old Mill added; “At Old Mill, our clients’ best interests are at the heart of everything we do, which is why we are continually looking at ways in which we can enhance our services to offer real value and differentiate ourselves from our competitors. Andy’s success in achieving the STEP Advanced Certificate in Advising Vulnerable Clients is testament to this, and we are really proud of him and the enhanced service he is now able to offer.”