A family firm, in the proper sense of the word.

Paul Wearden

DipPFS · Diploma in Financial Planning · Pension Transfer Specialist

Paul has spent his entire working life in financial services. He started at Britannic Assurance in Preston in 1981, moved to Abacan, Smith & Patterson in central Preston in 1983 and became fully qualified in the years that followed — achieving what was then the highest accolade in the industry, Fellow of the Life Insurance Industry.

In 1985 he founded Fernleigh Wearden & Co, which became Fernleigh Wearden & Company Ltd in 2020. He is qualified to Diploma in Financial Planning level through the Personal Finance Society, advises across every area of financial planning and holds the pension transfer specialist qualification.

Paul originally held Fellowship of the Life Insurance Association, one of the highest qualifications available at the time. When the framework was reorganised decades later, holders were offered the diploma-level equivalent instead. The letters changed; the forty years of knowledge behind them did not.

That matters more than it sounds. Contracted-out benefits, State Second Pension, guaranteed annuity rates, plans written in the 1980s that no longer exist in any brochure — a younger adviser may never have seen one. Paul has advised on them since they were new.

Daniel Wearden

Director · MLIBF DipFA · Cert CII (MP)

After university, Daniel — Dan to everyone here — started out in Australia as a sales adviser and then manager of a direct marketing team. Back in England he worked for a patent and innovations company in Stratford-upon-Avon, before joining Lloyds Banking Group in 2014 as a Personal Banking Adviser and later a Mortgage and Protection Adviser.

He joined Fernleigh Wearden in July 2023 as a director and advises across every area of financial planning, bringing over ten years of banking experience with him — including lending, borrowing, debt, mortgages and every type of protection plan.