Award-winning Manchester-based Pareto Financial Planning is one of the UK’s leading independent financial advice firms. Founded on the principle that “their clients’ success is their success”, Pareto has built its reputation on long-term client relationships, holistic independent advice and a people-first culture.  This approach has resulted in recognition as one of the Best Financial Advisers to Work For in the UK – for four consecutive years.

With a team of nearly 80 people, over £1 billion of assets under influence, and a client base ranging from individuals and families to global PLCs, Pareto doesn’t stand still. Their mission of genuine care for clients and colleagues, runs through everything they do. It’s this same commitment to excellence that led the Board and Managing Director Paul Stones, to ask a forward-looking question:

Are our internal systems and processes keeping pace with our ambitions?

The answer to this question led to a partnership with Jigsaw Tree to build the kind of scalable infrastructure that a growing, ambitious firm genuinely requires.

Paul Stones, Managing Director of Pareto Financial Planning, told us more about the technology transformation that enhanced the way his firm works and why consistency, not cost-cutting, is so important.

The Pareto team have been on a quiet but significant journey. Not a rebrand. Not a pivot. Something more fundamental: a meaningful evolution in how the business operates, with a key objective: a consistently effective way of working to enable growth.

Key to this is recognising that advice firms can sometimes rely on established habits rather than consistent infrastructure and that’s exactly what the Board at Pareto recognised.

“We’d been using our back-office system a certain way, for years. We wanted to explore an external perspective to help us recognise where we could refine our approach.”

The catalyst for change was a desire to improve consistency across the business and achieve scalable approach; not to shrink the team but to build the kind of solid foundation that an ambitious, growing firm genuinely needs.

Choosing a partner, not just a provider

Pareto had heard of Jigsaw Tree through the industry grapevine. After a couple of conversations, the decision to work with them was, in Paul’s words, fairly clear.

“We knew where we wanted to get to. We just needed some guidance on the best path to get there. That’s where Jigsaw Tree was so valuable to us.”

Jigsaw Tree has spent over a decade working exclusively with financial advice firms, mapping processes, optimising back-office systems including Intelligent Office and helping teams build sustainable, scalable ways of working. The ‘Jigsaw Tree Approach’ isn’t to drop a report and disappear. It is instead to embed with the team and stay until the results land.

For Pareto, what distinguished Jigsaw Tree was credibility.

“They came in with a strong well-rounded understanding of Intelligent Office. They looked at how we were using it and helped us find a better way.”

The ‘Process Mapping’ moment

One of the first things Jigsaw Tree did was run a process mapping exercise; sitting down with Pareto staff and asking: tell us what you do now. Establishing this, before exploring if a better way existed to get them where they wanted to be.

Crucially, the exercise wasn’t confined to a boardroom conversation between Paul and his Operations Director. Jigsaw Tree went wider, sitting with department leads and front-line staff. In the end, around 30 Pareto team members were involved in the initial engagement.

“They created an environment in which we were able to self-critique. This was very helpful, particularly as we were still working through the solution, but could already see the problem. Involvement inspires commitment. And it highlighted areas we hadn’t previously identified, such as overlapping tasks across individuals.”

A culture question, not just a tech question

Any technology transformation in a people business is ultimately a change management challenge. Paul is candid about that;

“We needed to build confidence in technology change, whilst also supporting a shift in the way we work.”

“People don’t always like to change the way they have been doing things for a while, so the way change is introduced and implemented, is key. You can take people with you, as change happens.”

Paul’s approach wasn’t to issue mandates from the top. It was to help the team understand the problem before expecting them to embrace the solution. And Jigsaw Tree’s on-site presence during implementation made a big difference.

“It wasn’t just reassurance for me. It was for the whole team. I’ve brought in someone independent, someone expert. They are going to help us shape how we do things going forward and to be there to answer any questions, so nobody felt they were left on their own to work it out.”

The result?

“A greater understanding of the problem always makes adopting the solution easier.”

From Fifty-five Steps to Four and What That Really Means

Over the course of the engagement, Pareto standardised its technology stack significantly, reducing down the number of different steps in the process. For instance, the valuation process, previously a largely manual exercise, has now been automated entirely.

But Paul is careful not to let the headline numbers overshadow the real point.

“It wasn’t just about saving time. We were never trying to shrink the team. The motivation was consistency. From a management perspective, it makes things simpler. A more consistent way of working reduced reliance on individual approaches and supports much smoother collaboration.”

The language that matters to Paul is the shift from “here’s how I do it” to “here’s how we do it.” That is probably the biggest and most welcome transformation!

The client portal: choosing substance over shiny

The introduction of a client portal was another significant milestone. Whilst at several points the team would identify alternative options, decision-making did not always progress at the same pace.

Jigsaw Tree’s input helped bring clarity and move things forward.

“They told us; this option ticks seven out of ten boxes. Nothing else out there matches that in line with your requirements. We understand that these seven ticks are important to you to enable growth and to move forward, so our recommendation is that you use this one. But the end decision was ours. It felt sensible for us to give this advice strong consideration.”

The portal is now rolling out to clients. Paul acknowledges that in an ideal world it probably should have happened earlier. However, investing the time in the earlier work Jigsaw Tree did to help cleanse and standardise the data, ultimately put Pareto in a better position to do it properly.

The elevator pitch from a client perspective

Asked what he would say to other firms sitting on the fence about a partner like Jigsaw Tree, Paul doesn’t hesitate.

“I would strongly recommend Jigsaw Tree. Whilst firms and their boards may have a clear direction for technology, culture and growth, Jigsaw Trees’ credibility and reputation help provide additional confidence when implementing change. And they delivered on what they promised.”

He adds, with characteristic directness, that he did not feel the need to explore whether cheaper alternatives existed. “That’s probably the best endorsement.”

It’s all about the people

At the end of our conversation, Paul offers something unprompted and it’s the part that perhaps says the most.

“I’m ridiculously proud of my team here and I’m also proud of the success of this company and the clients we look after. I want to be continually focused on having the right tools in here and the right support to allow that to continue.”

That’s the real story. Not the technology. Not the process maps. But a leader who cares deeply about his people, his clients, building something that lasts and who knows that solid foundations are what make ambitious growth possible.

About Pareto Financial Planning

Pareto Financial Planning is an award-winning, FCA-authorised independent financial adviser based in Manchester city centre. With over £1 billion under influence, a team of nearly 80, and a reputation for long-term client relationships, Pareto provides holistic financial planning for individuals, families, and corporate clients across the UK. Visit paretofp.co.uk