Q&A with Dan Garcia, Director at John Lamb Hill Oldridge

In this series of Q&A articles, you can learn more about our esteemed team members who ensure that our clients receive the very highest level of service.

Dan Garcia is one of the directors at John Lamb Hill Oldridge. He took on the role in 2005 and is one of our team’s technical experts in older-style life assurance products and complex life assurance structures.

He now heads up our Renewals and Valuations team, which provides support and services around annual reviews, renewal reminders, policy surrender and death claims and maintaining our trust records.

Read on to learn more about Dan’s background, how he helps his clients, and some of his favourite parts of the role.

Could you tell us a bit about your background and experience prior to working at John Lamb Hill Oldridge?

It seems an age ago now, but prior to working for John Lamb Hill Oldridge I worked for Norwich Union (now part of Aviva), which I joined back in 1986 after leaving college.

I spent nearly 20 years there, working at various regional branches in the new business sales teams, and gradually worked my way up the ladder to become the Sales Support Manager at the London West End office.

Aviva went through a great deal of change over that period, which ultimately led to the closure of the localised branch network after they decided to focus on centralised support offices. The West End branch closed during that restructure exercise, which then led to me switching sides of the fence from provider to Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) in 2005.

That is when I joined Hill Oldridge Limited. Then, it was a small general IFA practice specialising predominantly in life cover-based solutions for inheritance tax (IHT) planning purposes for ultra-high-net-worth individuals. The practice owner sadly died in 2020, which then led to the merger of the firm with John Lamb Insurance Brokers and the creation of John Lamb Hill Oldridge Limited as it stands today.

What do you believe has been your most significant career milestone so far? How has this shaped your approach to your work today?

I think my most significant career milestone was being involved in the process to find the best choice of broker to pair up with when the former owner of Hill Oldridge died. We had a strong sense of responsibility in the management team, seeking to find the best solution to ensure the continuity of specialist advice to our clients.

I think time has proven that we got this right in forging a relationship with John Lamb. There is definitely a sense of renewed energy in the firm now, which is predominantly emanating from the new management team which includes my co-directors Alex, Ken, and Paula. The fresh thinking they have brought to the table has had a very positive impact on the business and our client relationships, and it is nice to have been part of that change.

What is your specialism and how do you help your clients in this area?

Most of my time at Hill Oldridge was spent working with our landed estate clients, many of whom have always understood the importance of using insurance products to mitigate their IHT liabilities. As a result, the firm now carries a very large book of older-style insurance products, which are no longer available in the marketplace today.

Given my life office background, I was fortunate enough to have gained a great amount of knowledge and experience in these particular products, and I think having this knowledge in-house has given us a slight edge over our competitors.

We operate in a very niche market area, so having an edge like this can bring advantages. John Lamb Hill Oldridge always offers our clients a review of their existing cover, even if that involves older-style legacy products that have since been withdrawn from the marketplace.

Surprisingly, not all our competitors do that, as they do not possess the in-house knowledge and expertise that we do. We are fortunate that we have a team of individuals, all with life office backgrounds, who have gained extensive knowledge in these legacy products. Together, we act as a technical resource to our sales team, who undertake the reviews.

What does your role at John Lamb Hill Oldridge entail?

Writing new business for the firm is obviously very important, but we also recognise that our ongoing service commitment to our clients and maintaining their existing policies is equally so.

I head up our Renewals and Valuations team, which focuses on all the post-sales activity and servicing issues that arise on our existing book of business.

This includes reminding our clients when their premiums are due, preparing annual valuation statements and cover summaries for annual review purposes, and dealing with surrender and death claims, as well as general servicing enquiries and keeping trust records up to date.

What is the most rewarding part of your role at John Lamb Hill Oldridge?

Typically, most of our clients deal with a number of different professional firms as part of their IHT planning process. We have always seen our role as working as part of a larger group of professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, and land agents, in delivering our advice and solutions.

This has enabled us to build long-lasting relationships with these other professional firms over many years. I have always found it particularly rewarding when we are chosen or retained to continue advising on work for the younger generations when they need the same advice as their parents did.

I feel this is the greatest testimony in demonstrating that our clients are happy with the service they are receiving and, similarly, why some of our relationships with the other professional firms have endured for so long.

What do you believe sets John Lamb Hill Oldridge apart from other organisations in this sector?

Our technical expertise, especially on older legacy insurance products as I mentioned earlier, but also our in-house medical underwriting service, which we helped pioneer in the sector. We are one of only a few advice firms in the industry offering the service.

What level of support can clients expect from their broker when they work with John Lamb Hill Oldridge?

Only the very highest level of support will ever do as far as we are concerned, and that is what we strive to provide to each and every client or professional connection we deal with.

Get in touch

To learn more about how Dan and the team at John Lamb Hill Oldridge can help you to support high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients with succession planning, please get in touch.

Email [email protected] or call us on 020 7633 2222.

Please note

This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.

All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.