Steve

My name is Steve Collinge, and I’ve been a client of Portcullis for around six to six and a half years now, and Robert is my adviser.

I had a fairly large final salary pension pot, and of course, there are lots of options you have at that point in terms of what to do with it. I needed some professional advice from somebody whom I could trust, and I wanted to know what the best thing to do was. At that point, I was in my early 50s, so I had some years to go in terms of my career, and I thought, “What do I do? What are the options available to me?” And Robert, very kindly, took me through all the best routes for me at that point.

I heard about Portcullis through my father. My father ran his own independent financial investment business for all of his career. He then sold that business, and had made contacts at that point, so when I was looking for someone to advise me, my father recommended Portcullis. That’s when it all started.

It’s very reassuring to be working with Robert and the Portcullis team. I was never an expert in investments, and I’m still not now, but I know a lot more now thanks to Robert. The fact that you’ve got people who know exactly what they’re doing is reassuring, and we can have a catch-up whenever we want. So, it is hugely reassuring that my funds are being managed by somebody I can trust 100%.

I think the best piece of advice I’ve received from Robert over the last six years is to have my pension managed by another organisation. James Hay, who we use to manage part of my pension, is reviewing the investments every single day to take advantage of trends and things that happen within the market. So that, without doubt, has been the best piece of advice, because they’re able to stay on top of all the changes that happen out there.

The one thing that stands out more than anything in terms of dealing with Rob and Portcullis is their quality of communication, whether it’s written or verbal, and the ability to have meetings when I want. I always know where I am with my pension, and I’m always reassured, so that’s the one thing that stands out more than anything else.

I would, without question, recommend Robert and Portcullis. And I would say the main reason for that is their professionalism, and also the fact that you can have 100% trust in him personally, and in the organisation, that your pension and your funds are in a very safe pair of hands.

Robert was very open from the start in terms of the bounty of options that were available to me at that time. He took me by the hand and said: “Look, these are all the various options.” And at no point was he a pushy salesman. It was just put to me as, “You could follow any of these options, but this would be what we would recommend at this stage”, and I was very happy with the advice I was given.