During my term as President of the Personal Finance Society, I was invited to write for a PFS publication along with a client, talking about our relationship. It was lovely to read that she feels in very safe hands.
Here are the words from Thornton Chartered Financial Planners client Karen McGurgan:
In 2010 I made a decision which has become pivotal in allowing me to enjoy the life I want.
It wasn’t an easy decision I recall at the time to take a leap of faith and engage a Financial Planner but after the decision was reached it was a “no brainer” that my trust would be placed with Sharon Sutton of Thornton in the Isle of Man.
Why?
• There was a professional referral
• There was the Chartered status; the only one at that time on the Island
• There was no commission-based selling
• There was a respect from peers within the financial sector
There was a realisation in our initial meetings that Sharon had the professional experience and available resources to manage my money, explaining that through mutual trust, faith in the future, consistency, diversification and careful planning a path can be mapped out.
Leaving my future on deposit with a bank or buying investments online did not provide me with the comforting knowledge that this would tie into my medium and long term requirements, which was to answer ‘how much is enough?’.
I realised I needed a financial plan.
Our relationship was forged and has evolved and here we are nearly a decade later enjoying the fruits of that decision.
I am now evangelical about the benefits of seeking the expertise of a reputed financial planner like Thornton.
Now when the “money” subject crops up in conversation I find myself comfortably sharing my experience.
It’s uncanny how often talking with friends comes down to the taboo subject of money, and it amazes me how many I know who make spontaneous, emotional decisions about both investments and expenditure without considering the longer-term implications and consequences.
The Thornton approach is not only client-centric but generation-centric: I was invited to sit on the company’s client advisory board where our views were voiced allowing Sharon to grow her business in the full knowledge that she is supplying the services and advice required not only by the client but facilitating future relationships with their dependents.
Very often, through the passing of time, the money mantle is naturally passed on and dependents can flounder with this new responsibility. Thornton encourages lateral involvement through their clients providing succession planning which can prove to be invaluable.
Sharon’s client engagement does not stop at the office door.
Regular seminars are hosted on-Island for clients which I have found enlightening.
There is also a corporate responsibility to the Isle of Man’s wider community through sponsorship of both sport and art.
I have met other clients at community events who I would not ordinarily have had the opportunity to chat to giving us a common sense of purpose.
It is impossible to filter through the wealth of media led news and propaganda from markets, economies, governments etc particularly as there is infinite bandwidth and column inches to fill daily; it is indeed overwhelming.
It was the correct decision all those years ago to engage the resources of a well-regulated professional team working within my risk tolerance levels to provide returns based on achieving the goals of my own plan, never mind some contrived benchmark.
I am comforted that the underlying assets within my own portfolio are for returns over the long term avoiding the short-term noise, a point I’m not shy in using when I’ve heard my friends grumble about poor returns amid negativity in the headlines.
I look forward to our regular meetings to talk through my plan and I feel in very safe hands.
This has all been enabled through the intuitive partnership of a professional Financial Planner and Fund Manager.
I joke with people I chat to that as I am not aware of my “death by” date, I require dedicated budgetary planning going forward. Fortunately, I now have an awareness that my ‘bucket’ is half full not half empty (even though it does contain holes).
At the end of the day it gets dark – work together to enjoy it while you can without the burden of an overload of fake news which can be filtered out and turned around to work to fulfil your individual needs.
I’m pleased to say a number of my friends have attended some Thornton events with me and a couple have even been to see Sharon. What’s not lost on me however, is how competitive a world it is when every bank, stockbroker and financial adviser wants my business and pretends to do what she does. They don’t.
We have steered through Fanny Mae, the BP oil spill, the election of the most controversial US President in my lifetime, and now Brexit to name only a few, and I am very grateful and satisfied that we remain on the course we set out upon in 2010.
We have faith in the future, patience and discipline; aka peace of mind.
