Tony and Michelle’s story

My wife and I have lived abroad for about 32 years now in both Bahrain and Dubai and over that period lots of people have approached us saying that they are financial advisers. 

They have promised to look after our money, but you know they are probably going to sell you something with the highest commission.

Fortunately, Mark had been highly recommended by a close friend in Dubai and as soon as we met him, we felt that he was straightforward and easy to get on with. He was very interested in us as people, not just as financial customers, and that meant we could trust him. 

From muddle to clarity

Our situation was a bit of a muddle at the time - we knew we had had a number of saving schemes and investments, some dating right back to the late 80s, and we needed someone to look at them. The paperwork at the time was a nightmare, but Mark took all that on board which was a huge weight off our shoulders. 

He streamlined everything and put the plans that were worth keeping into a tax-efficient wrapper, which allows us to access our money without paying unnecessary tax when we move back to UK. 

We could see clearly what we had, what our portfolio was doing, what our situation was, and whether we should keep it as it was, or add to it. Suddenly everything became much more manageable. 

A lifetime plan 

At first we were looking for investment advice, but a year or two later we had a general financial planning discussion which became a retirement planning discussion. 

We weren’t sure how much we’d need to live off and wanted to make sure we would have enough to maintain the lifestyle we are used to, and be able to pass some onto our daughters.

Lots of our friends don’t have a plan, which is scary. They are stumbling into retirement wondering where to live and when to move back to the UK and how to go back to an old life. 

We were able to sit with Mark and think all of these things through and think about when we wanted to leave, and where we wanted to settle and create a plan to make it happen.

In 2015 we bought a house in UK so that we had somewhere to move back to. Mark helped us to organise the mortgage, which isn’t easy to do when you’re abroad. This has made us feel fully prepared for retirement.

The importance of trust

Dealing with matters so close to your heart can be very worrying. You have to really trust someone before you want to do business with them if you want them to help you financially. But Mark is unbiased and isn’t incentivised by choosing particular funds.

He is also very knowledgeable - he has been in business a long time and explains things in a way that is very easy to understand. He updates us, talking about world markets and how it might or might not affect our portfolio, and makes suggestions from there. But he is never pushy – he leaves the decisions up to us - and he is always available at end of the phone to help out immediately. 

Now Mark is more of a friend than financial adviser. He always does what he says he is going to – he doesn’t need reminding. We have a laugh and joke each time we meet.