Helping clients achieve and maintain their desired lifestyle

”Over the years I have used three different financial advisers and have learned a lot from my experiences with them.

My first adviser was a one-man company and the business relationship which developed depended very largely on the informal knowledge base which the adviser accumulated as a result of our personal relationship. The knowledge base led to extremely valuable advice and the formation of a sound financial base for my family. This adviser retired from the industry.

Looking for a replacement adviser, I turned to my stockbroker who claimed that his company were able to offer the same services as my previous adviser. This proved to be a costly and mistaken move. There was never any attempt to understand the fundamentals of my family's financial needs and I eventually realised that the advice being given was more to the advantage of the 'adviser' than to my family. I found that slowly I was beginning to understand more about financial fundamentals than the adviser and consequently broke away from him.

After a three year period with no adviser and knowing that changed circumstances needed new advice, I was recommended to Prestwood by my first, now retired, adviser. After the initial interview, I recognised that Prestwood had developed a systematic and relevant personal information gathering process which considerably short circuited the rather old fashioned and slower way of gathering information through the development of a personal relationship.

Before I could receive advice, I realised that I had a lot to do to get my own house in order and I spent considerable time gathering information on my current financial affairs which then became the input to Prestwood's highly organised personal database. From this point, the computer tools used by Prestwood became highly relevant to me rather than simply a demonstration of hi-tech software capability. This was a confidence building exercise and added credibility to the advice which then began to flow.

In the subsequent five years, I have always known that Prestwood's financial advice to me is based on a sound knowledge of my own financial circumstances. Restructuring of my investments has followed a logical path and each component now has a clear purpose. Cash flow projections showing expense and income have great relevance and will have considerable value as I move towards retirement. Regular meetings with clear objectives and minuted outcomes are particularly valuable as is the ability to get quick responses to queries either by telephone or email.”

PT (Warwickshire)