Evelyn Partners Avis 

Exceptional customer care each and every time I engage with the team at Evelyn. Nothing is too much bother. A quick message or question to my account handlers and I have a response to arrange a call asap. Frequent and regular updates on performance coupled with real time portfolio moves via the website/app keeps me well informed. My thanks to Stephen Parker and Stephen Lawler, alongside the wider team, for the professional support at all times but with a service that always feels a partnership, is authentic and consistently genuine. Keep up the good work!

All of our family have been clients of Evelyn for over 20 years. Couldn't recommend highly enough.

We have been looked after by Evelyn for a number of years and have received consistent and effective advice throughout that time. David Smith is knowledgable, positive and pragmatic. Clearly technically astute he presents a subject that can be confusing in a straightforward digestible way. We enjoy our reviews and would very much recommend David and Tilney without reservation. Five stars.

I have dealt with Evelyn partners now for many years and specifically David Smith and Matt, both have been exceptionally helpful and their knowledge of their business exemplary.
David particularly has assisted in navigating me through some complex issues which has tested both his skill, patience and determination at times but resulted in a positive outcome.
I have absolutely no qualms in recommending David, Matt and the team at Newcastle. They are an asset to their company and their clients.

I first met Daren almost 30 years ago under Milbourne. They were the first financial advisers appointed to our growing company. Both Rod Milne and Daren O'Toole stood out as individuals with fantastic knowledge, integrity, and loyalty. Daren is still my adviser today. I personally couldn't promote a more professional guy in Daren.

This review covers issues relating to the administration in 2020 and 2021 of the estate of a customer who had held nearly all their savings with Evelyn/Tilney, including insurance bonds, a loan trust and an Evelyn/Tilney unit trust.

Confirmation of investments
We sought information (and not advice) from Evelyn/Tilney regarding the investments and their characteristics during estate administration. This was dealt with satisfactorily but we were charged a 4 figure sum. Considering the levels of commission that had been paid over the years that was disappointing.

Strategy and Suitability Report (for investments and IHT)
We found that such a report had been prepared by Evelyn/Tilney for the customer in 2017. There would of course have been a charge for this. The report was based on the assertion that most of the late spouse’s Nil Rate Band would be inherited. We discovered however (by simply looking at the late spouse’s will) that this was not the case; the spouse’s NRB had already been utilised. Again, this was disappointing.

Very high unit trust charges
The unit trust sold to the customer was the Evelyn/Tilney Cautious Portfolio. It was a fund of funds with about 50% of its assets in stocks. It was confirmed by Evelyn/Tilney that the following charges had been applied: a 1.53% ongoing charge, a 0.75% annual management charge and charges made by the various funds held, typically 0.8%: a total therefore of about 3% pa. Ouch! If the assets of this fund remain static in value over 10 years the fund will loose more than 26% of its value!
The Vanguard Life Strategy 40% Equity fund holds broadly similar assets but has a much smaller ongoing annual charge: 0.22%. At certain brokers, eg IWeb, there would be minimal further charges.

On-boarding costs
We considered splitting and transferring the unit trust directly to the 8 beneficiaries without encashment. Evelyn/Tilney informed us however that this would involve on-boarding the beneficiaries as new clients with associated costs starting at £2k per beneficiary. We didn’t proceed.

Failure to respond to a simple request
We requested encashment by letter of the Evelyn/Tilney unit trust in early July 2021 and specifically asked for a sale contract. Evelyn/Tilney took 19 days to encash the unit trust. Despite our request no sale contract was sent – we were told to await the October quarterly report! So we didn’t know how many units had been encashed and the price per unit achieved until about 3 months later. This contrasts to transactions at (much cheaper) platforms such as Fidelity where a unit trust sale will be initiated within 24 hours of a request, with both the cash and a contract note available within a further 24 hours.

IHT
Unfortunately we had to borrow money, and therefore pay interest, to pay IHT on the estate. It came to our attention however, in the late stages of estate administration, that the loan trust could have been liquidated anytime following the date of death. A good wealth management company would be proactive and ensure that this significant benefit is made abundantly clear to an estate administrator.

Loan Trust
The loan trust was a complicated beast. To be fair Evelyn/Tilney did offer an explanation of how it worked but were unwilling to offer assistance with its cancellation. I wonder whether this reluctance to be involved at encashment is made known at the time of purchase when initial commission is there for the taking. We were told to get professional help external to Evelyn/Tilney. The trust document, written in 2007, was complete legalese gobbledegook and neither we nor the financial adviser we engaged could understand the wording of an important part of it. The Plain English campaign was founded in 1979.

2023 surprise
Most of the estate, including the unit trust, was liquidated and distributed to beneficiaries in 2021. We received a letter on 1 February 2023 from Evelyn relating to the required correction of a tax certificate for 20/21 issued to the estate for the unit trust. This tax year had ended almost 2 years previously. The corrected certificate showed liability to reduced estate income tax.

We were told that a “third-party fund manager, unconnected to Evelyn Partners” was responsible for the mistake, with the clear implication by Evelyn that they were not in any way accountable for poor fund administration. Sub-contracting fund management can thus be seen as an attractive option for Evelyn.

The amended 20/21 tax certificate was dated 18 November 2022. It was sent to us almost 11 weeks later to arrive on 1 February 2023 which, according to accompanying guidance notes provided by Evelyn, was one day after the HMRC deadline for amending a 2020/21 tax return!

My husband and I have recently had our annual review with Daren O'Toole and, once again, we are very pleased with Daren's professionalism and knowledge. We contacted Daren nearly 10 years ago when he was with HFS Milbourne and have been very pleased with the way in which our accounts have been handled. Also, Daren is very approachable and it is more like have a chat with a friend. Would have no hesitation in recommending Daren.

Great support throughout the process of setting up our new entity!
We are very pleased with the support of Evelyn through what has been a long process with many obstacles when settling down here in the UK with our new subsidiary.
Any issues we faced though, we always felt Evelyn was available with help and offered solutions and introduced new ideas to us which made running our new business a lot smoother. We are hoping to stay with them for many years to come and can recommend them to any company looking for support regarding any financial questions.

Preparing for retirement I asked my Accountants to recommend a good IFA, and they suggested Daren O’Toole of HFS Milborne, now Evelyn Partners. So about 6 years ago now, I made contact with Daren
about managing my pension pot. Following a detailed review of my circumstances we agreed a plan which was then actioned. Daren handled the whole process professionally, with detailed understanding of my needs, and showed clear knowledge and experience. Dealing with him and his team throughout these years has always been a delight, with regular contact, together with a great personable and friendly approach. I thoroughly recommend Daren as a real expert in personal financial management in what can be a most complex area of life.

I had the good fortune to be introduced to Daren O`Toole, formerly of HFS Milbourne, more than 20 years ago. My previous Financial Advisor was not particularly interested in my quite small investment. Thanks to Daren`s keen interest, enthusiasm and very sound financial advice, my holding has grown substantially. There have been many successful years, with very few years of modest growth. Daren has always offered sound advice, ensuring that I did not exceed my "Risk Factor" even when I was tempted to so do!!!
Daren always responds promptly to my questions and I hope that he will be equally successful with Evelyn as he was with Milbourne. Long may our relationship continue!!!

We just wanted to single out Daren O’Tool from Evelyn for his fantastic service to us over the last 16 years. We approached Daren pre Evelyn with some small portfolios, pensions and general pre retirement planning advice. We were too busy to manage these ourselves and the value we have received from his services have far surpassed our expectations. He has always been reliable, diligent and very often gone above and beyond. In the transition from his former company acquisition by Evelyn which provided some reporting challenges he spent hours ahead of our review sessions manually creating the charts so we could compare with familiarity. We have and continue to recommend Daren to family and friends.

I made a review but it seem to have disappeared. Is there more than one page. I’ve asked for my isa to be returned to best invest due to poor performance at Evelyn partners. My sipp, which is managed by me, is doing better. Meanwhile my isa is losing value during the protracted transfer time.
I’ve just found my other review on the best invest page. I guess it is appropriate that you both get one star although it is helping a lot now that I’m getting updates from Connor. He deserves more stars.

It is not often you see me writing a review online, however, as in this case, to mark a business relationship with my FA (Daren O'Toole) that has lasted more than two decades (pre Evelyn Partners) I have to say, Daren has over the years looked after my financial affairs covering everything from, Buy-to-Let mortgage, Private Pension investment, Retirement Planning, ex-employer pensions analysis. Daren has always provided sound experienced unbiased and professional advice. I can only highly recommend Daren and his team at Evelyn Partners who have looked after all my financial interests.

We have used Evelyn for many years and have always received detailed financial advice, delivered in a friendly and professional manner. Bethany is always on hand to answer our questions and we trust Evelyn to work on our behalf and to the best interests of the company.

We'd like to thank Daren O'Toole for our recent financial review and detailed report. He offers clear explanations on pensions, IT law and investments whilst also providing an honest view of the current economic climate. All this has greatly assisted us in the management of our assets.

I have known Daren O’Toole in his professional capacity for over twenty years. At that time I had been recently widowed and was feeling vulnerable, confused and concerned for mine and my child’s future. Daren helped me make sense of my financial situation and has continued to do so over the years. He and his team have always been prompt in responding to my questions and as my situation has changed over the years they have been able to support me with advice that has been explained in terms that I understand.

As I enter a new phase in my life, I felt I should write a review to acknowledge the consistently high standard of professionalism that Daren O'Toole has delivered over the thirteen plus years that he has been my financial advisor. Along with his team who have always responded, courteous and promptly in the execution of agreed decisions. Thank you and I look forward with confidence to the years ahead.

We have now received our feedback report from Daren O' Toole following our annual review and just want to say a big thank you to Daren and his team for all of their efforts over the last year and particularly for the secure management of our assets during the transition from HFS Milbourne to Evelyn and Partners. Daren's overview of the current and future economic and investment outlook was explained in clear laymen's terms and against this back drop we re-confirmed our objectives and attitude to risk. We know that there is no crystal ball when it comes to predicting market movements - it is all about being in the right position when markets rise or fall. With Daren O' Toole and his team at Evelyn and Partners looking after our assets, we are confident that we will always be in that position.

I signed up with Evelyn in 2001 as Financial advisor Daren O'Toole assured me my previous F.A. was not serving me well and as I was recently widowed and knowing nothing of my late husband's portfolio I agreed. Fast forward 2 years and many excuses later my portfolio has been untouched and massively depreciated...I am now seeking legal advice as I believe Daren O'Toole/Evelyn have acted negligently and there has certainly not been "a duty of care" and this has caused me financial harm and many sleepless nights!
I did post a complaint on Evelyn's website last Friday and within 2 hrs Daren O'Toole sent me an email saying they had now looked at my account and were ready to proceed and could we have a meeting.......obviously I declined as Daren has promised so much over the last 2 years and delivered very little but lies and broken promises!

It is now October 4th 2023 and this issue has still not been resolved sadly!

I set up a new SIPP which was far from smooth and a tad tedious however I endured the process with the ultimate aim of a partial transfer of a cash to cash workplace pension fund to take advantage of the market leading SIPP cash interest rate and to also diversify my holdings providers
The process started in mid May and has not completed in mid July, during this period I haven't been appraised of the progress or informed of any issues
Overall service levels so far haven't been particularly encouraging
Update following the EvePtns RFI 31.07
I'm more than happy to advise my details and update Trust Pilot when the issues are resolved, however at the moment the process is ongoing and went further downhill last week despite me emailing BestInvest daily to inform them things weren't moving along as expected. BI suggested I contact the incumbent provider, which I did, and they advised BI had submitted information incorrectly which was the cause of the delay. Will update when more information becomes available