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A Candid Conversation on the Future of Family Businesses
AAB / Our Team / Patrick Christie
I work with families, helping them to lead the lives they want to live and supporting both parents and children to effectively achieve their definition of success. I also deal with private individuals, high-net-worth individuals, couples, families, and business owners.
I support clients by using a coaching approach to identify what is most important to them, combining this with financial planning, detailed tax planning, and financial modelling.
Patrick Christie is a Financial Planner based in our Charlotte Square office in Edinburgh. His role involves meeting with clients, understanding what is important to them and how he can provide them with support and guidance in identifying and achieving financial success and security.
Patrick specialises in assisting couples in the years (possibly decades) leading up to retirement and in retirement or who are looking to balance their own aspirations with assisting their children and ensuring efficient overall family tax positions. He also assists children of wealthy families to plan well for their futures when dealing with receiving large financial gifts and inheritances and accumulating their own funds.
“For me, an ideal client relationship is one in which my clients feel that they can fully trust me to guide them when dealing with their finances. The real magic happens when a relationship moves from dealing with specific questions on individual topics to truly and holistically looking at a family’s whole picture. I am honoured to be trusted enough to have my clients share their hopes and dreams with me and I enjoy taking the time to uncover what is most important to them to enable them to see what can be achieved for their future.
Clients expect excellent financial knowledge and a high level of attention to detail from me. They require advice that is more than just a snapshot in time but considers their broader picture and flexes with them as circumstances evolve. Ultimately, I believe clients expect that our relationship will develop and last, and that I fully understand their goals and treat those with as much care and respect as I do my own.”
“Without a doubt, I find the most satisfying aspect of my work to be meeting with clients and transforming their perspective from worried or unsure to reassured and relaxed. Until you meet and engage with the person behind the finances, they are only a textbook problem. Once you meet, you can identify what’s important to them and how you can support them. This is where I feel I can truly make a difference for someone.
I absolutely love working face-to-face with clients. This is my preference, and I feel this allows my clients to get the most out of our time working together, but always in conjunction with the use of the best tools and technology. Incorporating tech, like cashflow modelling and the intelligent use of other tools, can only enhance a relationship, but identifying the essence of the relationship is often accomplished best face-to-face.”
“In the areas I deal with, a word that comes up frequently is transition. That might be a couple moving into a new phase of life, beginning to engage in passion projects rather than working for a salary, or a client’s child getting to grips with what an inheritance means for them. Many of my clients are in the midst of a type of transition. This can create numerous challenges around how to identify objectives, achieve the best for a client and support them during this time. I use financial coaching throughout my work as a guide at this stage rather than dictating the answer. I believe that with support, clients have their own answers, and this guidance enables them to achieve their best result.”
“My greatest strengths are in explaining complex topics to clients and enabling them to feel that I and they understand exactly what is happening with their finances. I believe my technical knowledge of tax planning and investment enables me to be a real asset not only to my clients but my wider team.
Truthfully, if I feel my clients are not able to sleep at night, neither can I. One of the greatest compliments I received from a client when talking about her parents, who are also clients, was “Thank you for everything you have done for Mum and Dad. I couldn’t have asked you for anything more. I’d love for you to help my daughter in the future”. I don’t believe there can be a higher compliment from a child or a parent.”