Financial advice 120 years in the making

Financial advice 120 years in the making


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Acumen’s latest exciting venture has seen us acquire a well-established Lancashire firm of financial advisers and welcome their team into the fold. This next evolutionary chapter not only broadens our geographical scope in the North West but also deepens our talent pool to 120 years’ worth of combined industry experience.

Growing Lancashire financial adviser

“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together,” said James Cash Penney, founder of US department store chain, JCPenney. That is a sentiment we wholeheartedly subscribe to here at Acumen. It is the combined forces of hard work, strategic foresight, calculated risk taking, fortuitous timing and – above all – an unwaveringly client-centric approach that has propelled Acumen Financial to where we are now.

Where we are now is a highly respected firm that manages £240 million worth of funds, having overseen an unprecedented 60 percent growth over the last 18 months. We have a talented team of financial advisers and support staff, whose ranks have now grown to 17 in all. Plus, we now have two office locations – our main headquarters in Burscough and our newly acquired office in Pilling, Lancashire.

Merger of financial planning companies

Back in May, Angela Maher, Managing Director at Acumen Financial, said her goal was to “continue to build this company and spread the word about Acumen across the North West region and beyond.” True to her word, the business has duly gone on to acquire Pilling financial advisers, Wyre Investment and Financial Management, an acquisition that not only gives Acumen a strategic new satellite office in the Wyre borough of Lancashire (between Preston and Lancaster) but also the chance to welcome experienced adviser Liz Warren and support executive Jayne Clarke to our team.

Liz has more than 30 years’ experience in all aspects of financial planning and advice. After graduating in 1981, she went to work for Assicurazioni General, a large Italian insurance company, in Johannesburg, for three years. On her return to the UK, she took a post at Standard Life, where she was based for over ten years. In 1995, Liz established Wyre Investments, initially as the advisory arm of an accountancy practice but later becoming fully independent.

Financial advice 120 years in the making

Acumen welcomes Pilling financial advisers

“I have a wide range of clients, from multinational businesses to private individuals looking for help in running their finances, a lot of whom have been with me since the business was initially set up,” Liz said. “I have really enjoyed fostering relationships with clients over a long period of time, which has been one of the most rewarding parts of building the business.

“I firmly believe that everyone should understand how financial products work and be comfortable with what they are investing in,” she added.

Liz’s work encompasses tax planning, investment and pension planning, as well as advice on life assurance and protection products, retirement benefits, occupational pensions, mortgages and later life advice and much more.

In keeping with Acumen’s intrinsic values, Liz is committed to “providing personal service, building relationships with clients from private individuals to international corporations, and helping them all to achieve their goals”. A regular volunteer at Citizens Advice Bureau, Liz is married with two daughters. In her spare time, she loves to travel and play golf.

Contact Acumen Financial today

Another key member of the Wyre Investments team to join Acumen is support executive, Jayne Clarke. Jayne also spent an extensive portion of her career at Standard Life, working her way up to section head of new business processing. After more than a decade of dedicated service, she left to have her two children before joining Wyre Investments in 1997.

Jayne is responsible for the day to day running of the office and is the friendly voice that welcomes every call. In her spare time, Jayne plays tennis for a local team and enjoys keeping fit, swimming and taking her dog for a walk.

Needless to say, we are very excited about this new chapter in Acumen’s history and we warmly welcome Liz and Jayne to the Acumen family.

For more information about any of our high-quality products and services, please contact Acumen Financial Partnership today on 0151 520 4353 or email info@acumenfinancial.co.uk.


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