Evidence
Specific outcomes from pension and wealth engagements—not star ratings or marketplace widgets.
Hartwell walked through every workplace pension I had forgotten about after three job moves. The consolidation review took longer than I hoped because one provider was slow with paperwork, yet the final recommendation to leave my old DB rights alone was clearer than anything my previous adviser had said.
We needed a retirement income plan before my husband left his engineering role. The cashflow charts showed we were overdrawing in the first five years; adjusting the ISA withdrawals fixed that without touching his final salary scheme.
The inheritance tax meeting was useful, though I still needed a solicitor for the trust wording. Hartwell stuck to the pension and gifting angles and did not pretend to draft legal documents.
Annual reviews keep our Stocks & Shares ISA and SIPP from drifting into risk levels we never agreed to. The last session flagged a fund we no longer needed after selling the buy-to-let.
Two cases that show how the flagship retirement work and consolidation reviews unfold in practice.
They wanted to leave work before State Pension age but feared emptying their SIPP in the bridge years. We sequenced ISA withdrawals first, delayed one State Pension claim by fourteen months, and left the larger Defined Benefit pension intact. Their written plan now shows a steadier income line through age 70 with a planned review every twelve months.
Two small DC schemes carried high charges; a third held valuable guaranteed annuity rates. After comparing transfer costs against ongoing fees, only the two DC pots moved. The guaranteed scheme stayed put—an outcome the client had almost missed after reading a generic consolidation letter.