Best Financial Advisers in Newcastle City Centre

Newcastle city centre is the North East's financial district in all but name. Several of the UK's best-known wealth management firms run their regional offices within a short walk of Monument, on Grey Street, Gallowgate, Strawberry Lane and the Quayside, which makes it the obvious place to start if you are looking for help with pensions, investments or inheritance planning. This is a directory-style guide to who is here and what they offer, not financial advice: the right firm depends entirely on your own circumstances. We have also included the free guidance services that are worth using first.

Wealth managers and financial planners

Rathbones

Rathbones opened its Newcastle office in 2013 and is based at Earl Grey House, 75-85 Grey Street, NE1 6EF, in the heart of Grainger Town. The firm offers financial planning, investment management (building and running a portfolio on your behalf) and a combined wealth management service that brings the two together, along with specialist advice for more complex circumstances.

Access is from the seventh-floor lobby, using the intercom to reach reception, and there is no visitor parking in the building, though there is public street parking at the front. New clients can call 0330 390 9191.

Best for: Best for: a long-established national name with planning and investment management under one roof on Grey Street.

RBC Brewin Dolphin

RBC Brewin Dolphin, now part of RBC Wealth Management, has its Newcastle office at Time Central on Gallowgate, NE1 4SR, beside St James Metro station. The Newcastle team provides financial advice, investment management and private banking facilities, working with private clients, charities and the professional advisers who refer clients to them. Call 0191 279 7300.

Best for: Best for: investment management with a bank-backed group, a short walk from St James' Park.

Evelyn Partners

Evelyn Partners, the firm formed in 2020 from the merger of Tilney and Smith & Williamson, is on the second floor of St Ann's Quay, 122 Quayside, NE1 3BD. The office moved there in 2022, into premises around three times the size of its previous city base, when a six-strong team from the Quayside financial planning firm Scholes & Brown joined. That team had offered financial planning and investment management in Newcastle since 2003.

Services from the Newcastle office include financial planning, wealth management, investment management and charity investment management. New enquiries go to 0203 993 8693.

Best for: Best for: families, business owners and charities wanting planning and investments together on the Quayside.

Canaccord Wealth

Canaccord Wealth, part of the Canaccord Genuity Group, has an office at One Strawberry Lane, NE1 4BX, near the Gallowgate end of the city centre. It provides investment management and wealth planning for individuals and families, trusts, business owners and the professionals who support them, with services across the firm including retirement, inheritance tax and long-term care planning. The office is open 8am to 5pm on weekdays; call 0191 917 8520.

Best for: Best for: retirement, inheritance tax and long-term care planning alongside portfolio management.

UBS Wealth Management

UBS Wealth Management is at 1 City Gate, NE1 4XQ, close to St James' Park. Its Newcastle team offers wealth strategy, investment and pension planning, and bespoke financial planning, with access to the wider bank's estate planning and corporate finance specialists. It is aimed squarely at wealthier clients: its own website asks for bankable assets of more than £2 million for a consultation with an adviser. Call 0191 211 1000.

Best for: Best for: high-net-worth individuals, entrepreneurs and families with complex affairs.

Free guidance before you pay for advice

Not everyone needs a paid adviser, and the free services are a sensible first step. MoneyHelper, run by the government-backed Money and Pensions Service, has free, impartial guides on pensions, savings and debt, and a directory of regulated retirement advisers.

If you are 50 or over and have a defined contribution pension (the kind most workplace and personal pensions are), you can book a free Pension Wise appointment through MoneyHelper. It is guidance rather than advice: a specialist explains your options for taking your pension, but will not recommend a product. Many people find it useful to have that conversation before meeting a paid adviser.

If you run a business and want help with funding or start-up finance rather than personal wealth, our guide to business support in Newcastle city centre covers the free options.

How to choose a financial adviser

Every financial adviser in the UK must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. You can check any firm or individual on the FCA Register (register.fca.org.uk) before you commit, and it is worth doing even with well-known names, because the register shows exactly what each firm is permitted to do.

Ask each firm whether its advice is independent (able to recommend products from across the whole market) or restricted (limited to certain providers or its own products). Both can be perfectly good, but you should know which you are getting. Large wealth managers like those above are often restricted, so ask the question directly.

Ask, too, how they charge. Some charge a fixed fee for a plan, others an ongoing percentage of the money they manage, and many have minimum investment levels that are not always obvious from their websites. Ask whether the first meeting is free, and it is reasonable to speak to more than one firm before deciding.

Know a good financial adviser with an office in Newcastle city centre? Let us know and we will take a look.