Why we do, what we do
Our clients are dedicated professionals, focused on delivering exceptional financial planning advice to their own clients. While investing is a vital component of their service, it is only one part of the broader solution they provide. They seek to maintain input and control over their investment proposition without becoming overwhelmed by the complexities of investment management.
At Albion, our goal is to empower our clients by freeing them to focus on their clients while ensuring their investment programme is consistently optimised—delivering confidence that it’s the best it can be, both now and in the future.
- Free up clients to focus on financial planning.
- Inspire confidence in the investment proposition.
Who we work with - the Albion community
We work with an amazing group of client firms who sit at the forefront of the financial planning profession in the UK and elsewhere, including 22 of the 65 CISI Accredited firms.
We often get asked ‘are we too small (or too big) to work with you?’. It is not about size but about attitude. If a firm is focussed on financial planning, puts its clients at the centre of all that they do, and if they want to manage an inhouse investment proposition that is based on the evidence and theory available, then it is likely we will be a good fit. That is provided you like us and vice versa! Like our financial planning clients, we are looking to work with firms over the long term.
Our client community of over 70 firms, ranges from £50 million, or so, up to in excess of £2 billion in AUM. Collectively, Albion client firms advise on over £23 billion of client assets.
Most of Albion’s clients hold advisory permissions, a few hold discretionary permissions to allow them to rebalance and to facilitate any ongoing refinements to portfolios, and a small number use external DFMs to simply implement and rebalance the in-house investment solutions we help them to build and run.
We still work with the firms that we first did over 15 years ago (some of whom have merged with other firms, mainly within the Albion community).
Our clients are based across the UK, including Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as Norway, Australia, UAE, and Hong Kong.
- Working with leading financial planning firms around the UK and elsewhere.
- Working together on a long-term basis.
Our clients
The Albion client community of firms ranges from £50 million, or so, up to in excess of £1 billion in AUM. Collectively, Albion client firms advise on over £23 billion of client assets.
Our clients are widespread, based across the whole of the UK, as well as Mainland Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Asia.
Our clients
The Albion client community of firms ranges from £50 million, or so, up to in excess of £1 billion in AUM. Collectively, Albion client firms advise on over £23 billion of client assets.
Our clients are widespread, based across the whole of the UK, as well as Mainland Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Asia.
Meet the team
Director
Ben joined Albion after completing his BSc in Physics in 2015 – time flies! Ben's relationship with physics is now more casual as his passion for investing has taken over. Having benefitted from the guidance of Tim Hale, Albion’s founder and chairman, Ben has developed a passion for evidence-based investing and the processes that help firms deliver better client outcomes. Like all members of the team at Albion - Ben is a self-proclaimed investing nerd!
Outside of work, Ben is a keen golfer, an avid traveller with his wife, and a devoted dog-dad to Louis - the Bernese Mountain Dog who’s become something of a celebrity around the Albion office.
Director
James joined Albion in 2017 from the University of Bristol (Computer Science and Business Management). He leads the development and maintenance of the tools and models that clients use to design and govern their investment propositions. James particularly enjoys building Albion’s product screening tool - an ambitious, end-to-end system that underpins consistent, evidence-based product selection and oversight. He works closely with advisers to embed these tools and make complex ideas usable day to day.
Outside work, he’s a golfer and avid Arsenal fan, a casual chess player, and proud dad to Teddy and Aria.
Director
Dan joined the team at Albion as an Investment Analyst at the beginning of 2020.
His background has seen him complete a BSc Hons in Mathematics, followed by ~5 years working at a leading Financial Planning firm in Exeter which led to becoming a qualified Financial Planner. A short stint in teaching Maths followed, before returning to finance in a more research-focussed role. Investing is where Dan's passion lies!
Outside of work, Dan is an avid Exeter Chiefs fan, enjoys the odd game of 5-a-side and can be found trying his luck on the golf course (the game he now loves to hate).
Founder and Chairman
Tim read Zoology at Oxford, and after a four-year stint in Hong Kong with Standard Chartered, undertook an MBA. He then joined Chase Asset Management, which is now part of JP Morgan Asset Management, working in various roles in London, Hong Kong, and New York for almost a decade before setting up Albion in 2001.
He loves working with Albion’s clients and takes immense pleasure in seeing them develop and grow, in the knowledge that Albion has played a small part in their success. Like the other team members, he loves investing and likes nothing better than a piece of deep research.
Outside of work, Tim is an avid Exeter Chiefs fans, and can be found in ‘The Library’ on the East Terrace. He, along with his wife and two teenage daughters, is fortunate to live in the beautiful Exe estuary town of Topsham and is occasionally sighted on his paddleboard.
Investment Support Analyst
Callum joined the team at the end of 2024. He holds an MSc in Finance and Investment from the University of Brighton. His interest in investing began at the age of 17, inspired by reading books by renowned investors such as Warren Buffet and Benjamin Graham. Callum enjoys learning about the intricacies of the industry.
Callum is an avid Liverpool supporter, often debating with James to argue who supports the better club. In addition to his enthusiasm for football, Callum also likes basketball and tries to follow his team Miami Heat as much as possible given the difficulty in time difference.
Investment Support Analyst
Kieran joined the team in Q3 of 2025 after four years in the wealth management industry, where he honed his skills as a report writer and paraplanner. He studied Business Management & German at the University of Manchester, which is where he first came across Fama and French's research in his 'Fundamentals of Finance' module.
A long-time listener of the Rational Reminder podcast, Kieran first crossed paths with James and Ben at a meet-up hosted by Cameron Passmore in London. Perhaps proof that good podcasts really do bring people together! He now channels that same curiosity into his own blog, where he enjoys exploring different investment topics and sharing his analysis.
Outside of the office, Kieran enjoys catching a football match, lifting weights at the gym, playing chess and travelling around the world.
Lunch monitor
As an occasional visitor to the office, Louis' role includes providing cuddles to the team, in between naps, as well as casting judgement on lunch preparation!
Books & publications
Tim’s book is now in its 4th edition. It has also been published in Chinese and Russian! In it he lays out the theory and evidence and practical guidance for investors looking for a simple, yet robust and sensible, way to invest. He was motivated to write the book by the frustration that he felt seeing how investors fell into the same wealth-destroying traps laid out for them, through no fault of their own. The approach outlined in the book very much mirrors the approach at Albion.
" Tim Hale has written a book of investment wisdom and common sense for the ages. Investors who follow his simple advice will be richly rewarded."
John C. Bogle, Founder, The Vanguard Group
Tim wrote a chapter in defense of a low cost, systematic approach to investing in this anthology of investors. Other, far more esteemed contributors included John C. Bogle, Professors Dimson, Marsh, and Staunton, Anthony Bolton, Glen Arnold, Mark Dampier and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
" By far the best-value way to improve one's investing returns is to buy Harriman's New Book of Investing Rules … The book offers more than 500 pages of hard-won wisdom and could surely help anyone who follows its advice to grow their portfolio."
Harriman House
