How we’ve helped Sophie and Nick

Sophie

Hi, I’m Sophie, and this is my husband, Nick. We’ve been with Lawrence Clarke for around five or six years. We followed Paul Davis there; he’s our financial adviser, who we’ve been seeing for around 24 years.

We got in touch with Lawrence Clarke about five years ago because we needed some updates on our pension and we needed to renew our mortgage.

Nick

We were happy to choose Lawrence Clarke on the back of Paul’s recommendation, as he is now working with them. They provided the personal and professional aspects that we were looking for and treated us as people rather than simply numbers, and that was a great selling point to us in terms of continuing that relationship.

Sophie

Over the many years that we’ve been with Paul and Lawrence Clarke, we’ve managed to use them for a variety of services, from mortgage advice to financial advice, and very recently we reached out for advice on our children’s pensions. It seems a bit early to be talking about children’s pensions, but actually, Paul was very good at advising us on the best steps and making that investment for our children’s futures.

Nick

In terms of working with Lawrence Clarke and the way that we feel, it’s a feeling of security. We know we’re in safe hands; we get sound financial advice, and it’s balanced out with a sensible conversation looking at risk levels and changes to our appetite for risk as we do the reassessments every couple of years. That’s really important as we understand how our personal situations have changed, our financial position changed in support of that, and that may change our level of risk as well. So, we may have an appetite for more risk or less risk, and our investments can then be tailored accordingly.

Sophie

With the various financial crashes we’ve had over the years, Paul has managed to advise us very well about where best to invest our money and how things are going. So, that has provided a massive sense of security for us.

Nick

Working with Lawrence Clarke and then looking at the future provides us with assurance. We’ve got several investments that will be maturing over the next couple of years, and we’ll be looking to Lawrence Clarke to support us with those decisions in terms of next steps, how it’s reinvested, where it’s reinvested, and ultimately, how that supports us as a family and our children for the future.

Sophie

The three words that I would use to describe Lawrence Clarke are personal, professional, and confidential.

Nick

The best thing about working with Lawrence Clarke has been the continued approach to risk. I found that really rewarding as a family; when we’ve been sitting there looking at that and talking it through with Paul, it’s made decisions easier to make. It’s showing whether we’ve made the right decisions, and that continual re-evaluation has helped us to reflect on our own personal environment.

Sophie

The best piece of advice that Lawrence Clarke and Paul have given us was regarding my pension and moving it from one provider to another. Since moving it over, it has done so much better than it did before, and again, it’s down to the risk assessment and having regular check-ins to make sure that our risk assessment is still at the same level.

Nick

So while we’ve specifically dealt with Paul over the years, the relationship with Lawrence Clarke has been hugely positive. We’ve recognised the changes and the opportunity that that’s provided, and we’re really pleased that that’s been available to us. So, it’s definitely something that we’ve valued, and I’m really thankful for it.

I’d undoubtedly recommend Lawrence Clarke for investments, pension advice, and looking at any aspect of financial questions you may have. They’ve been hugely professional, their advice has been absolutely sound, and they look across a broad range of options as well. We’ve not just looked at a very small number of providers, so that in itself has given us security, and the fact that it’s not just a small group of investors or opportunities that Lawrence Clarke looks at; they certainly look at the full spectrum, and that helps you in making those key decisions for life.