By Raj and Fiona Shah of Blue Wealth Capital

Following the recent achievement of our operations director Fiona Shah gaining the acclaimed Certificate in Relational Financial Planning, we are excited to now be shortlisted for two prestigious awards by Money Marketing. Here we give more detail about the awards and our entries:

Financial wellbeing champion of the year

This award recognises an individual who excelled this year in promoting the value of financial wellbeing to consumers. This individual should be a true champion of why planning, not products, matter in clients’ lives, banging the drum for how coaching and other techniques can revolutionise our relationship with money.

Charity Champion Of The Year

This category seeks to reward an advice firm that has gone above and beyond in their efforts to help others over the past 12 months. The judges will be looking for a genuine commitment to charity endeavour.

For several years, Blue Wealth Capital has actively supported the work of Sheffield-based Endeavour, a charity created to help young people living in some of the most deprived areas of South Yorkshire escape the poverty trap. Our founder, Raj Shah, recognised that by working with young people and helping to teach them financial literacy skills, it could have a direct impact on their relationship with money and debt.

As the country entered lockdown in March 2020, we realised many charities would have their fundraising ability and capacity severely curtailed and would struggle to raise the vital funds needed to provide their services, many of which are lifelines to vulnerable people and communities. To support this important work during the pandemic, we pledged to donate a minimum of six hours of work per month towards supporting local good causes. This didn’t simply mean undertaking fundraising activities, but rather using the skills and knowledge in our business to help organisations rise to the challenges posed by COVID-19.

Blue Wealth developed and implemented a clear ‘giving back’ programme of activity. Working closely with Endeavour, Raj played a key role in helping the organisation move its events and activity programmes online and delivered both group and one-to-one sessions with young people to help them develop the skills needed to manage their money more effectively.

Over the past 12 months, we set ourselves several goals:

  • To support 100 charity and voluntary organisations during the pandemic
  • To deliver a minimum of eight hours pro-bono work per month
  • To help charities and good causes in Sheffield and across the UK benefit from high-quality financial planning.

Drawing on his professional experience, Raj shared his knowledge and expertise, particularly in relation to the creation of legacies and trusts, to illustrate both the societal and tax benefits of supporting charities. This culminated in the delivery of a presentation, entitled ‘Why Financial Planning and Wealth Planning Could and Should Be Used as a Force for Good’ to more than 2000 global delegates, comprising senior representatives from charities – including UNICEF, The British Red Cross, and The Princes Trust.

In the following months, Raj worked closely with several charitable organisations to help them review their legacy programmes and facilitate supporters to donate money as part of their estate and future financial planning activity.

Of course, as we were always told as children, it is not the winning but the taking part. Therefore, regardless of the outcome of the nominations, we will bask for a while in the glory of being recognised by Money Marketing in these often-overlooked areas.

Raj Shah is founder of Blue Wealth Capital and has been shortlisted for Financial Planner of the Year and Investment Adviser of the Year. Raj can be reached at:
raj@bluewealthcapital.com

Fiona Shah is operations director at Blue Wealth Capital. Fiona can be
reached at: office@bluewealthcapital.com

 www.bluewealthcapital.com

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