Same People – New Name!

As well as our name change, you’ll also start to see a new logo and brand identity. Our email addresses will change from @dbwood.co.uk to @amberriverdbwood.com and we’ll answer the phone as Amber River DB Wood.

Don’t worry, if you contact us after 26 June using our ‘old’ DB Wood email address, your email will be forwarded automatically. Our telephone number and office address are not changing.

Most importantly, our people will remain the same!

Why are we making this change?

We decided to work with Amber River in 2021, and in June 2022 we became part of a select group of regional independent financial planning businesses (13 to be precise) to come together under the ‘Amber River’ banner. The aim was two-fold – firstly to ensure a clear succession for the business and its clients, and secondly to help us to expediate further improvements in client costs and service.

As you might imagine, it’s quite a challenge to both reduce costs and increase service, especially from an already very competitive position. So far though, with the help of Amber River we have been able to drive down the total cost clients pay by c17% since 2021. At that time the average abrdn platform cost was 0.27%, and average fund cost 0.68%. Today those figures are 0.13% and 0.41% respectively, a great result both thanks to our team and the support of the wider Amber River group. These changes have allowed us to reinvest back into our business in the form of expertise, improved systems, cashflow tools, technology and importantly client security. On the last point, it is worth noting that our investment in technology is significant, particularly in an age where Cyber security is becoming an increasingly important part of the infrastructure of a business. We hope that the changes we have made will create more time for us to spend on client solutions as the world becomes more reliant on raising levels of taxation.

What does this mean for you?

The rebrand means DB Wood will have a new name and logo, new email addresses and a new website. Most importantly though, the people you’ve come to trust over the years will remain.

That means you’ll continue to be looked after by your existing adviser, technical support and client services team. The business will continue to be run in the same way with the same team. Our insurance division will remain as DB Wood Insurance Brokers, as the rebrand is focused on our wealth and investment management divisions.

So the next part of the journey is to improve outcomes further. We have a new cashflow management tool coming in over the next few months, our investment research tools and capabilities continue to broaden out, and our client security would not be where it is without our collective approach.

If you’d like to know more about our rebrand or should you have any questions, please get in touch at questions@dbwood.co.uk or speak to your adviser.

In the meantime, thank you for your support to date and we look forward to continuing to provide trusted, independent financial planning to you and your family over the coming years.