Client Login
FCA Regulated
Chartered Status
Whole of Market
5-Star Rated
Transparent Fees
First Equitable pension advice at a glance
Chester office: Bridgegate House, 5 Bridgegate, Chester, CH1 1SA. Telephone 01244 267485
Advice type: independent and whole-of-market, pension recommendations from across the market rather than one provider
Specialisms: pension consolidation, drawdown and annuities, retirement income planning, and defined benefit or final salary transfers
Credentials: Chartered status, FCA regulated (FRN 782577), pension transfer specialist permissions, a named adviser on every case
Getting started: free initial consultation at our cost, with no obligation and no minimum contract
Why choose a Chester-based independent pension adviser
Being in Chester means you can sit down with your adviser. Our office is on Bridgegate, in the middle of the city, easily reached from across Cheshire, the Wirral and North Wales. We are happy to meet there, at your home or workplace, or by video call if that suits you better. You will work with a named adviser throughout, not a call centre, and we will explain everything in plain English so you can make decisions with confidence.
The pension advice we provide in Chester
Most clients come to us with one of a handful of questions. We advise on all of them.
- Old and forgotten pensions. If you have pots scattered across former employers, we will find them, compare them and advise whether bringing them together makes sense. Sometimes it does not, because older schemes can carry guarantees worth keeping, which is exactly the sort of thing that needs checking before you move anything.
- Taking an income. We advise on pension drawdown, annuity purchase and combinations of the two, so your income is sustainable and tax-efficient rather than simply available.
- Building up. Whether retirement is decades off or close, we advise on contributions, allowances and investment strategy through our pensions advice and retirement planning services.
- Reviewing what you already have. We are regularly asked to review existing pension portfolios and take over their ongoing supervision without necessarily moving them anywhere.
Our wealth management services
Pension & Retirement Planning
The Whether retirement is decades away or just around the corner, we help you build a strategy to get there. Pensions advice, consolidation, drawdown and annuity purchase, all explained in plain English by a dedicated adviser.
Wealth Management
Growing your wealth is one thing, keeping hold of it is another. Independent, whole of market advice on savings and investments, wealth preservation, and trusts and inheritance tax planning, built around what you actually want your money to do.
Protection Planning
Life rarely gives notice. Life insurance, critical illness cover, income protection and private medical insurance, arranged so your family and your income are covered if the worst happens, without paying for cover you don't need.
Financial Planning for Business Owners
Running a business leaves little time for your own finances. We bridge the gap between the two, advising on company pension schemes, corporate savings and investments, and protection, working alongside your accountant and legal advisers.
Wills & Power of Attorney
Making your wishes clear now saves your family difficulty later. We help you put a valid will in place and set up a lasting power of attorney, so the right people can act if you no longer can.
Probate & Estate Administration
Administering an estate is daunting at the worst possible time. We guide executors through the grant of probate, settle debts and taxes, and distribute the estate properly, with a fixed quote agreed before any work begins.
Final salary and defined benefit transfer specialists
This is where we differ from most firms in Chester. We hold the FCA permissions required to advise on defined benefit, or final salary, pension transfers, an area many firms have withdrawn from entirely.
A defined benefit transfer means giving up a guaranteed, inflation-linked income for a cash value you control. It is rarely the right move, and the regulator expects the starting assumption to be that a transfer is unsuitable. So it demands specialist, carefully evidenced advice from someone willing to tell you no. If you have a final salary scheme and want to understand your options honestly, we will assess your position, set out the trade-offs in full, and only recommend a transfer where it clearly serves your interests.
Clients tell us this is why they found us. As one put it, we were “the only Independent Financial Adviser I could find to provide assistance with my Final Salary pension transfer, at a competitive rate”.
The 2027 pension inheritance tax change
From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds will count as part of your estate for inheritance tax. That is a significant change, because for years leaving a pension untouched was one of the most tax-efficient ways to pass on wealth. Where death occurs after age 75, beneficiaries can face income tax on withdrawals as well, so the combined effect can be substantial.
It means pension decisions and estate planning can no longer sit in separate boxes. We advise on both, so we look at them together. You can read our view in our article on pensions and inheritance tax from 2027, or see our trusts and inheritance tax planning service.
Why choose First Equitable for Pension Advice in Chester
Chartered expertise
Chartered status is the gold standard in financial planning – your assurance of qualification, experience and ethics.
Truly independent
Whole-of-market advice with no ties to any provider, so you get the right solution rather than an in-house one.
Plain English, always
We explain everything clearly so you feel informed and in control of your financial decisions.
Transparent fees
All charges are disclosed and agreed before any work begins – no surprises, no hidden costs.
Local and personal
A dedicated adviser you can meet at our Castle Street office, by video, or over the phone — whatever suits you.
What our clients say
What our advice costs
We publish how we charge, because pension advice should not come with a mystery price tag.
Your first consultation is free, at our cost. If you go ahead, we typically charge a fixed initial fee for your financial planning report, then a percentage of the portfolio we implement. That percentage is tiered, so the rate falls as the value rises, and couples advised together are treated as a single combined amount, which usually means a lower overall rate. Ongoing service is entirely optional and starts from as little as 0.3% a year.
There are no minimum contracts. You can stop our ongoing service whenever you like. For pensions and investments we work on a fee basis only. Full detail is on our charges page, and we will give you a personalised quote at your initial meeting.
Getting started is simple
1
Free consultation
2
Your tailored plan
We analyse your position using sophisticated planning tools and build a clear, personalised financial plan.
3
Ongoing partnership
We put the plan into action and review it with you over time as your life and the markets change.