Addidi - Case Studies

“I regret not having had my own adviser earlier rather than doing it all piecemeal myself. I feel that I made some bad financial decisions and investments because I didn’t have one person giving me a macro overview of my goals and what I was already doing, preventing me from duplicating, preventing me from doing something that wasn’t going to grow very well, and preventing me from locking up money unnecessarily for a long period of time where it wasn’t doing anything for me. So I’ve made some dumb decisions and I’ve wasted a lot of time in making progress.”

Mary Spillane

Case Studies

JH, business owner
DD, retired
MS, executive coach & consultant
JB, ex PR Director, now a mum of 2
DI, city professional

JH, business owner

JH first met her Anna, her Addidi Adviser, 8 years ago having recently been widowed and struggling to cope with her loss and husband’s estate. Her bank adviser had sold her a bond and was pressuring her to buy another (total commission of circa £35k) – her Addidi adviser agreed a fixed fee for the initial and ongoing work which included agreeing an investment strategy with her, undertaking an independent review of investment managers and agreeing an Investment Brief with her for the chosen investment manager. Since then, her adviser meets her every 6 months to go through her portfolio, and annual action plans. Addidi has assisted her in using the profits from her portfolio to buy and renovate a property, sell this property and buy her current property and business. This past year, Addidi has assisted JH to update her will, facilitated a business partnership agreement, and agreed a robust funding plan for the business. Addidi has also undertaken a further review of investment managers and appointed a new manager following changes at the original investment management firm.

JH is a also member of Addidi Business Angels

“Having advice from someone who seemed to have my best interests at heart as opposed to someone who just wanted me to sign a document so they got some kind of commission - that was the difference between having a financial adviser and someone who only called himself a financial adviser, but actually was just a commission agent. Addidi didn’t blind me with jargon, my adviser made me feel at ease so I could say to her, I don’t understand what that means, can you explain that to me? I’m very content and happy knowing that I’ve got somebody like Addidi looking after my best interests”.
JH, business owner

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DD, retired

DD met her Addidi Adviser 6 years ago following a referral from her accountant. Her previous adviser had invested a lump sum (mostly in with profit bonds) which was struggling to produce the income required and had declined in values. Her Addidi adviser restructured her investments to create a more diversified portfolio which generated a more tax efficient income. Two years ago, Addidi assigned DD a dedicated “Didi” (Financial Concierge Assistance) so we can assist her with day to day money management – this has been a real boost for DD as she has been able to share the burden of managing her affairs on her own and ensure there is no wastage - Addidi has been able to make savings on her utilities, improve her cashflow and budgetary management. We continue to meet more formally on a six-monthly basis to review her investments”

DD is also a member of the Addidi Pioneers Club.

“You need to find the right person to look after your money. Because I’ve had lots of people before, who really haven’t bothered to do anything for me at all ... It’s important to find someone like Addidi who I meet up with every six months, who goes through with me what is going up and down. And although I don’t understand exactly what is happening, I have the confidence in my adviser that she knows what she is doing... Having someone like Addidi around has alleviated a lot of worries ... and if something was to go wrong in my life I feel that I could go to Addidi and ask how I could find the money to do whatever it was I needed to do, have a major operation or whatever it was.”
DD, retired

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MS, executive coach & consultant

MS met her Addidi adviser, 8 years ago following her divorce – she had a number of pensions and her priority was to secure an income for herself in retirement. The adviser consolidated her pensions into a SIPP (self invested personal pension) and initially an investment manager was appointed to manage the pension assets. Within 3 years it became obvious that the investment manager was not adding value and the pension portfolio was brought in-house. This has resulted in greater control over asset allocation and risk management.

As part of the Financial Concierge service, Addidi also assists MS with her UK and US tax returns, liaising with and coordinating with her business and personal accountant ensuring MS is not paying too much for their services, they have all the information they need and tax returns are undertaken on time.

MS is also a member of Addidi Business Angels.

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JB, ex PR Director, now a mum of 2

JB met her Addidi adviser, 9 years ago when she had a small sum of money she wanted to invest. This was invested in an offshore bond as JB was leaving for a job in Australia. On her return to the UK in 2005, she contacted Addidi who have been advising her and her husband ever since. JB has since married, had children and moved to Switzerland – Addidi has constructed a financial plan for her, advised her on further investment of funds, set up child trust funds for the children, advised them both on their pensions in UK, Australia and more recently Switzerland. An annual review meeting is undertaken to review their financial arrangements and agree any changes to the financial plan.

JB also subscribed to our Financial Concierge Service so she had help managing her day to day finances when the boys were very young.

“The thing that always concerns me is that I have so many things on the go that I might overlook something important or I might not have a chance to update information as situations change ... The concept of wealth management actually focuses you on a plan and it makes it easier to prioritise longer term planning and investments, savings and insurances at a time when perhaps, if you are doing quite well, you might want to fritter that money away elsewhere. I think it is a very powerful way of looking at what your priorities are and then allocating money to pots according to your priorities rather than your whims.”
JB

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DI, city professional

DI became an Addidi client 2 years following her attendance at one of the Addidi events. She previously had an adviser she was not happy with and had little time to enjoy life much beyond her work. Addidi has given her peace of mind by agreeing a 10 year investment strategy which should allow her to scale back on work at age 50 and buy a home somewhere sunny! DI now refers all financial paperwork to us for advice or second opinion and she has made use of the wider Addidi proposition including Addidi Business Angels and Kitaz to have a life outside the City!

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