Why Unburdened?
Unburdened is a Financial Services Compliance Support and Training company, hoping to help you be the best at doing what you do.
The name "Unburdened" came from a series of conversations with financial planners about the challenges of running an advisory business; sometimes you can feel like Atlas, with the weight of the sky on your shoulders.
Working with Unburdened is an opportunity to help relieve some of the burdens you carry; that's one of the reasons why our logo is a rucksack. As well as highlighting that we can work from anywhere, it symbolises the importance of being able to share some of the weight.
An Unburdened Journey
Each client's journey with Unburdened is different; each of us has different burdens.
We provide a continued Ongoing Support Service, helping relieve some of the challenges of running and advisory business in the UK market. More often than not, this relates to helping you keep on top of your regulatory compliance responsibilities.
Not all our clients require our services on a regular basis. Sometimes our help is needed for a specific Project, such as carrying out Due Diligence help in the design and impelmentation of a change in business processes.
For other clients, working with Unburdened is about helping your team reach their full protential, whether through carefully curated training sessions, critical examination of their work, or in one-to-one coaching and exam support,
Our People
The Team at Unburdened are here to help you. We are passionate about good financial planning and will bring our combined experience to help you achieve the outcomes your clients are looking for.
Alan Whittle, MSc MA FPFS
After working as a Paraplanner and then Compliance and Money Laundering Reporting Officer, Alan set up Unburdened in 2019 to provide ongoing compliance, learning and development support to financial planning businesses.
Having worked with both the Scottish Government Rural Communities Division and with a private welfare-to-work service operator, Alan is passionate about social sustainability.
A great believer in lifelong learning, Alan is a Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society who holds an MSc in Financial Planning and Business Management. He also holds specialist qualifications in Investment Management, Financial Crime, Risk Management, Green Finance and Climate Risk.
Alan has recently defended his thesis for a PhD in Financial Planning at Manchester Metropolitan University, the subject of which is the intersection of Behavioural Finance and Impact Investing, looking at how reference points, frames and framing impact investment decision-making in advised Impact Investing. His continued research interests are primarily in the fields of social and responsible investing, what motivates people to invest, and applied ethics in a financial services context.
Rebecca Kowalski, FPFS
Rebecca worked as a Sustainable Finance Champion under her Overstory brand from 2021 to 2024, following a career as a Paraplanner, Compliance Manager and Sustainability Lead for several Scottish IFA firms. Rebecca supports Unburdened in the development of Sustainable Finance solutions and research.
A Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society, Rebecca also holds a degree in Russian and Spanish as well as specialist qualifications in Sustainable Finance.
Rebecca's primary focus is on good client outcomes in the sustainable finance space, by providing education and training materials for the advisory profession, scrutinising the output of the investment industry and developing clear communications for clients.
Rebecca collaborates widely in pursuit of positive change, working with Alan via Unburdened Solutions and Understanding Sustainability, the FCA ASG group, the PFS Sustainability Panel and Nextgen Planners (Goodstock conference) among others.
Rebecca is motivated by helping her daughter, a climate activist, carry the burden of the climate crisis.
Collaboration
We are very pleased to be working in collaboration with some fantastic people in the work that we do, particularly:
- Michaela Pashley and colleagues at Practical Financial Exams (PFE)
- Max Leslie of Leslie Learning
Values
Honesty
We want to build lasting relationships with our clients. This means being open and honest with you, whether that is reporting back the results of a file check or in setting clear expectations for the work you require from us.
Competency
Our support for education is not confined to those we work with and we will always strive to improve our understanding. Sometimes this means accepting that there are areas where we aren't the best person to help you (like Defined Benefit Pension Transfers).
Passion
We believe in the power of financial planning to help people and the importance of sustainable, ethical and values-driven advice. We want to see financial planning grow into a successful profession.
Need a little light reading?
We have a selection of articles and research papers available in our Research and Articles section.
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