Martin Wight has retired from Ethical Futures due to a serious health condition so will not be joining us at Origen Financial Services. Shane Presley will be coming with us and his role will remain the same as at Ethical Futures.

Julian Parrott will also be joining Origen but will be stepping back from client advice. Julian will be focussing on training, research and development of the ethical and sustainable investment service. Therefore, Julian’s clients will be allocated to a new adviser. There is already one new female adviser scheduled to join the team and we will be in touch with those affected when we know more information.

Shane, Ashley, Andrew, Alan and Marian will all be making the move to Origen so there will be continuity. We hope that you will not see a significant change in your service and if you do, it will be a change for the better!

Established in 1885, Origen Financial Services was originally part of Leslie & Godwin Insurance Brokers. They have seen a lot of change in their long history and are now part of Aegon UK, one of the largest financial services groups in the world. Origen is now a medium sized financial advice firm, with a history of helping people achieve their financial goals. Like at Ethical Futures, some of Origen’s clients have been with them for decades, trusting them to help build their financial futures and supporting them through life.

They aim to simplify their clients’ financial lives and help them to achieve their financial goals. They are regulated to offer advice on pensions, investments, protection, retirement planning and estate planning.

With four offices across the country (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Farnborough and London) and a team of 40 advisers across the UK, with 8 in Scotland, Origen Financial Services are well equipped to help their clients achieve their goals.

Currently Origen offer whole of market, mainstream advice. Although they do currently offer advice on ethical investments, they feel they could do better. So, that’s where we come in! We will be operating as the ethical branch of Origen’s financial planning service.

As well as offering their clients comprehensive financial planning, Origen also try to give back to their local communities. Some of the work they do includes sponsoring children’s football teams and youth groups, as well as making charitable donations and hosting events such as Macmillan Coffee Mornings. Every year Origen employees are given a day’s leave to use towards the voluntary project of their choice. Origen also operates a Cycle to Work scheme which helps their staff to purchase cycling equipment and encourages them to embrace active travel.

Origen Financial Services are owned by Aegon UK but they operate independently from them.  Originally founded as Scottish Equitable, Aegon UK’s story starts almost 200 years ago. They are the UK’s largest investment platform. They work with customers, financial advisers and employers to offer pensions, savings and investment solutions.

Aegon UK invests ethically by integrating environmental, social, and governance factors into its investment approach. With over £26 billion in ESG funds as of December 2024, Aegon aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions in its default funds by 50% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. As a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code and UN Principles for Responsible Investment, it demonstrates strong ethical standards. Its funds, including the Aegon Ethical Equity and Ethical Cautious Managed Funds, exclude companies involved in unethical practices like armaments or animal testing, ensuring investments align with sustainability and investor values.

Like Ethical Futures, Origen are a whole of market adviser so they are not tied to Aegon’s products. They support employee positive employment terms such as flexible and hybrid working, days off for birthdays and time off to volunteer. They also run pro bono planning sessions for the staff of NGOs and charities.

No, we will still operate as Ethical Futures but under the umbrella of Origen Financial Services. In fact, if all goes to plan, Ethical Futures will grow as Origen have an aspiration to make ethical investment advice available to a wider client market with increased numbers of advisers over time.

We will officially move to Origen on the 30th of January 2026.

Due to regulatory requirements, our initial focus has been on clients with an on-going service agreement for whom we have additional regulatory responsibilities. However, all of our clients are important to us and we are now turning our attention to more transactional and ‘pay as you go’ clients to explain service options for you.

We hope that you may consider joining us at Origen Financial Services.

Origen do not offer a directly comparable service to our PAYG terms. Their services are based on working with clients who have signed up for an ongoing service funded by fund based investment fees. In common with the many financial advice firms, they do not offer ad hoc administration services such as withdrawals, account changes, etc. without an ongoing review service and full policy servicing authorities.

Origen will however, offer a ‘Keep in Touch’ service or would engage with you on the basis of an ongoing service agreement, if you required further financial planning advice.

Please consider the following options:

Option A – Appoint Origen Financial Services (explicit consent required)

If you want ready access to advice, you can engage with Origen Ethical Futures through a regular ongoing service. We can arrange the relevant documents if you wish to appoint Origen Financial Services (FCA Reference number 192666) to help you. Origen are an independent financial planning firm who we believe will be able to offer you a high quality of service in line with the principles we have maintained at Ethical Futures. If you choose to appoint Origen, they will set out their services and fees in writing before any charges are incurred.

If you do not want to set up an ongoing service agreement (subject to fees) then you can ask to join their ‘Keep in touch’ service, which will give you a point of contact and a regular newsletter. However, this service will not provide you with an ad hoc administration service.

To allow us to share your information with Origen, please sign and return the enclosed Consent Letter. We will then share only the information needed for Origen Financial Services to contact you and, if you wish, to take over servicing of your products.

Option B – Choose a different adviser

You are free to appoint any FCA‑authorised adviser to look after your finances. On appointment, an adviser will usually ask for a letter of authority to take over servicing rights for your existing plans and policies. However, please tell us too and we’ll try to provide any information your chosen adviser reasonably needs.

The ability of another adviser to service your existing policy may depend upon, their own terms and conditions and whether they have agencies with the relevant companies. They may also seek to charge on-going service fees or suggest a transfer of investments to their preferred platforms and providers.

Option C – No appointed adviser

You may wish to manage your affairs on your own and you are free to do so without an adviser. However, certain product providers may limit the scope of services available to you.

Following the transition of clients to Origen, the business known as Ethical Futures llp will remain as a regulated financial adviser. Therefore, there will be no immediate change to our agencies with providers, so your plans will remain under our oversight and you do not have to rush to a decision.  However, as part of the transfer of the existing business of Ethical Futures to Origen Financial Services we will shortly be applying to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for permission to cease providing advice.

Subject to FCA approval we expect to be able to offer some service support for up to three months (expected to be until 30th April). This is referred to as a regulatory ‘wind down’ period to allow for an orderly transfer of client servicing. However, although still an FCA authorised firm we will not be in a positon to provide new investment advice and will have much reduced servicing capacity, as it will just be one partner with no support staff. 

Thereafter, we shall cease all service and trading. Therefore, you will need to consider future options for administration of your financial plans.

No, if you do not transfer products and service our fees for administration will remain as per our current terms of business.

No, providing you are happy with the investments that you currently hold, nothing will change initially. However, certain investment managers may only offer limited options to non-advised clients and reserve the right to change aspects investment management after a period of time.

We shall publish more information about provider policy on our website in due course.

The plan is for Origen to take over the lease of our Mansfield Place office. Therefore Origen Ethical Futures will then operate from that office.

If you do not transfer to Origen and want to deal with Ethical Futures llp during the wind down phase, then we shall be operating remotely and only contactable by email, web call and mobile only.

Until 30th January, our address, main email, and phone number will not be changing. They will remain as follows:

• 9 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6NB

Thereafter Ethical Futures can be contacted at julian@ethicalfutures.co.uk

Enquiries to Origen Ethical Futures can be made to EthicalFutures@origenfs.co.uk

Ethical Futures llp will be creating an information website called www.EFLegacy.co.uk on which we will post further contact details and information.