Location: Billericay, Essex
Website: www.crocuswealth.co.uk
Using Parmenion since: 2023
We sat down with Jakob Payne – Director & Head of Investments, Stephen Bilton – Director, and Gareth Heath – Managing Director, to see what the Crocus Wealth team think about Parmenion.
When we do pick up the phone to Parmenion, the response time is very quick. We’re rarely on hold more than a few rings, and the team are always friendly and helpful – it’s very different to my experience with other platforms.
Stephen Bilton
Director
What services do you provide to your clients?
Crocus Wealth provides comprehensive financial planning for all our clients - covering estate planning, inheritance tax, cash flow modelling, protection, investments and pensions advice.
How does Parmenion’s approach differ from other platforms you’ve worked with?
Jakob: Parmenion’s approach is unique because they can make changes to their technology as and when they need to, rather than waiting two or three quarters to enact changes – that’s something really important for us and our clients.
Stephen: What stands out is how efficiently Parmenion delivers its model portfolio service. When we make portfolio changes, clients receive a secure email to authorise them - no manual emails or admin time required. Once approved, trades are placed automatically, removing human error, time lags and unnecessary processing.
How have Parmenion’s digital tools made your processes more efficient?
The Parmenion digital tools such as DocuSign have been a real time-saver for us. We can send and receive documents much faster, get responses back quicker and ultimately engage better with our clients.
How does Parmenion make investment management and operations more efficient for your business?
Stephen: Because Parmenion own their own technology, improvements can be made a lot quicker. For existing clients and top-ups, there’s no retyping of data - the process is much faster than on other platforms, and you always know exactly where you stand. When it comes to existing clients and top ups, there's no re-typing of client data. It's a lot quicker than our experience with other platforms, we can clearly see which funds have moved and which were still outstanding.
With Parmenion, you know exactly where you stand. The platform has changed the way we deliver client outcomes and manage fund switches. Clients can approve changes instantly, meaning they’re invested in recommended funds much faster. For clients less comfortable with technology, we can still work in the old way, managing updates through email.
Jakob: The efficiencies that we've been able to harness with Parmenion have enhanced both our operations and client experience. Clients often see trades completed the next day after rebalancing, which builds confidence and reinforces that we’re using forward-thinking technology.
How would you describe the service and support you receive from Parmenion?
When we do pick up the phone to Parmenion, the response time is very quick. We’re rarely on hold more than a few rings, and the team are always friendly and helpful – it’s very different to my experience with other platforms. They also have online learning tools to make it easy to find answers without needing to call in.
How has streamlining fund onboarding benefitted your clients?
Most platforms only offer standard retail share classes. With Parmenion, we can quickly access restricted or shielded share classes - often within a day, whereas from experience, it may take another platform a number of months to bring a particular shielded share class onto the platform. This gives clients access to our recommended investment propositions, typically at a lower overall cost.
What are three words to describe Parmenion?
Jakob: Dynamic, they're incredibly responsive to what we need as a business. Supportive, we have great relationships with the people working at Parmenion. Integral, they’re integral to our company.
Gareth: Competitive, efficient and streamlined.
