Those I've helped Achieve their goals

Successful young couple in mid-thirties living in London.  I assisted them in buying their first home, remortgaging to a better rate after five years and in July 2020 into a much larger home for the next stage of their lives. 

"Marcus recently helped us with our second property purchase. It was a no brainer to ask Marcus to help with the finances and to get our mortgage sorted as soon as we'd made the decision to look for a new home. The first experience was great and the second one was even better. 

The process of moving house can be and was very stressful but dealing with Marcus is always so easy. He has always been there on the end of the phone for advice, to answer questions, explain the complexities clearly and to just 'get sh*t done!' He knows his stuff and is very effective at getting things done which is a real help to someone like me who finds much of the financial world a little baffling. 

But what makes Marcus stands out is that he understands the humans behind the finances - and that is so important - and it shines through in how Marcus approaches his work. Our house move wasn't just a set of numbers for Marcus; a deposit here, interest rates there, 5 or 10 years fixed or variable. His involvement was so much deeper: "why do you want this move?  What are your dreams? -What do you want your life to be like'?" He helped shape our thinking around our finances in a completely human way. And that has been invaluable because what is money without an end goal or an aspiration? It's just figures in a bank account. Marcus understands that and not many people you meet do. 

Last Friday we completed our purchase and sale. Marcus was truly invaluable in that.  The first person to call me was Marcus, as he had notice from Halifax that the mortgage funds had been drawn down. This was before our solicitor called us!  Marcus had called to say how happy he was and was genuinely elated for us. This is testament to the amount that he cares about what he does. 

It's worth comparing my experience of dealing with Marcus to our solicitor - a man who, whilst professional, was blunt, cold and at times rude particularly if I didn't understand something. I was often scared to call him to ask a question for fear he would make me feel stupid. With Marcus it couldn't be more different - always keen to explain or to help out and always making me feel comfortable and reassured at each stage of the process. With Marcus, we were singing down the phone celebrating the news of our new house. With the solicitor it was a frank and brief "Just to inform you the sale and purchase have been completed. Thank you and good day". One understood we had achieved a huge step in our life and shared  our joy, the other couldn't have cared less!

I recommend Marcus to everyone I speak to who mentions wanting financial advice. When they say "Oh, it's OK I have an advisor," I always feel sorry for them because I can guarantee they won't be a patch on Marcus!"

Wonderful retired couple with four children and eight grandchildren.  

"Marcus was highly recommended to my wife & me about eight or nine years ago by some elderly friends who had been having trouble with their plans for downsizing – in particular buying their new house before they had been able to sell their own. We were in a position of having lived in our six-bedroomed house (a converted barn) on the outskirts of Petersfield for 40 years & wanting to downsize in due course. We knew our house was likely to be tricky to sell immediately, although it was worth around a million pounds & we were worried about dealing with the stress of having to co-ordinate buying & selling at the same time. We had some investments in shares, PEPS & ISAs so we therefore sought Marcus’s advice. To our great surprise it turned out that we could arrange a mortgage on our present house with the Leeds B S via an offset saver account so long as we signed up before I was 72 with my 72nd birthday a few weeks away. In addition he told us we could also apply for a buy-to-Let mortgage once we had found the new house. We looked around Petersfield town for about a year before we chose a house close to the station which was eminently lettable. We then arranged the second mortgage which resulted in our being able to purchase without having to delve into any of our investments. Meanwhile we let the house & found the income comfortably covered the two mortgages. A very happy state of affairs.

Being very impressed with the outcome we asked Marcus to review our finances which has resulted in his taking considerable trouble to set us up in the optimum way for us at our age. He has always made it clear by his empathetic approach that he has our best interests at heart. He has recommended a wrapper for our investments & taken great trouble to place all the shares in ISAs as quickly as the regulations allow. In October 2018 we moved out of our house after 47 years & moved into the rented one. He has taken a particular interest in our family circumstances, we have four children & eight grandchildren, & has been extremely understanding and supportive of our personal family problems. We then wished to address inheritance tax & wanted to set up a trust for the eight grandchildren. Marcus has helped us with this & has organised a fee structure for both our investments & the trust that does not rely on a simple percentage, but is more favourable to us. This reflects his concern that some standard financial adviser fees are very difficult to justify. He has also been very encouraging about spending money now to realise a ‘dream’ so we went to Australia for six weeks at the beginning of the year. He has also arranged for a book to be sent to us with advice about lifestyle choices. Altogether he goes above & beyond what one would normally expect from a FA in a most friendly and sympathetic manner."

Advice on Inheritance Tax Planning, Trusts and some forms of Buy to let are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

A wonderful retired couple that have recently turned 75 and enjoy a fulfilling retirement.  I have been dealing with them since 2010, assisting with pensions and general investments as well as estate and legacy planning for their two daughters and their families.

"After being made aware of the above award, I would like to express our / my thanks to Marcus Chapman for not only being there for when we had a question or problem but for going out of his way to making sure we were happy with his service.

A brief background before advising you of my wonderful experience earlier this year.

We were guided to contact Marcus just over 10 years ago by a friend of my wife’s just prior to her retiring from school, where she was a teacher.

Apart from the expected services such as,

* Discuss managing Income.

* Tax advice.

* medium/ long term Pension plans.

* Cash flow forecast.

* Helping the children out.

* Annual meetings.

Marcus gained our confidence enough to take us through the making of our Wills and before the Lasting Powers of Attorney documents were signed he asked to meet up with our daughters to explain to them.

During a meeting in early June 2019, sport cropped up as it had done on previous meetings and I happened to mention a life long ambition to watch cricket at Newlands cricket ground with Table Mountain in the background in South Africa, this to my wife’s surprise as having been married for over 50 years she couldn’t recall me mentioning it before, this obviously got Marcus thinking and apart from saying, "Go!" nothing else was said then.

Three days later, I received a letter enclosing the cricket section from the sports page from the Daily Telegraph ( this I still have ) with regard to England’s forthcoming Winter Tour of South Africa, it was offering a holiday which included the second Test in Cape Town.

I acknowledged and thanked him for thinking of me, but felt it was perhaps a little bit expensive, what with the single supplement being so high, but he wasn’t going to give up, he followed this up by checking independent travel companies, flights, hotels, made phone calls, checked ticket prices etc.

This started me thinking again, and I few weeks later, I did contact Marcus to say that with his persistence, I was going on an arranged Tour with ex-England cricket captains as the tour managers, and on 30th December I flew to Cape Town.

The final day of a very exciting Test match which England won ( they hadn’t done that for 57 years at that ground) ended late afternoon. Whilst still celebrating the victory, and within five minutes of the close, my phone rang, and yes it was Marcus!

Because like most people in the country, any other holiday arrangements for this year have been deferred, so I can think myself very lucky to have managed to carry out my dream, but only with the persistence of Marcus, who went way beyond general day-to-day services and I / we are very privileged to have Marcus as our Financial Adviser and friend.

Can you please nominate Marcus for this award."

Advice on Tax Planning, Cashflow Forecasting and Will Writing is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

Chartered Accountant and high net worth client in London.

"I am a chartered accountant working in London.  Marcus first contacted me almost 20 years ago to discuss a mutual client's income for a mortgage and I was impressed that he had bothered to check with me first.

Marcus then went on to sort a number of mortgages out for me and my wife and I was always impressed with his attention to detail in always finding us the best product, not just in terms of rate but for our circumstances.

Later on, Marcus spent a day at my office sorting through all of  mine and my wife's personal finances, which he has now been looking after for over ten years.

Over the years I have met Marcus many times and got to know him as a person and know that he is very ethical and always has the clients' best interests at heart.

I run my practice along very similar, personal, lines and for this reason I have always been happy to recommend any clients to him that need financial advice.  Most of those that have seen him and had a need for financial services are still with him and are very happy with the service he offers.

I certainly have no hesitation in recommending him to any of my clients in the future knowing that they are in safe and kind hands."

I was at a major crossroads in my life. I'd had financial advice before but all the advisers wanted to do was sell me an investment or pension or something. I didn't want any products. I wanted someone who understands life as well as finances, who could sense-check my calculations and scenarios to help me decide what to do next with my life - where to live and how much I needed to earn to have the life I want. I had an inheritance that I wanted to use wisely as I'll never get another one . And I was finally selling my home that I'd never been happy in because it was in the wrong place. I'd always felt trapped into a job I didn't enjoy because I needed the money to pay the mortgage for a home I was never in because I was working to pay the mortgage. I got to a point where that had to stop or my life was not really worth living. How could I make my money serve me rather than the other way round? Marcus and I discussed what I wanted to do with my life and he did some financial projections of different scenarios, like having a mortgage of £x or £y or not having a mortgage at all. This gave me the information I needed to know that my pension would be enough for the relatively simple life I want to live (no Porshes or fancy holidays for me) and that if I buy a home and become mortgage-free, then I need much less money to live on than I have needed for years. I would be able to afford to have a lower salary and would finally be able to do the type of worked I have long dreamed of, but the salaries were too low to cover my outgoings. I can also afford to buy a home in the place I love and really want to be. The discussions about life and financial projections have enabled me to dare to dream that the life I want is actually possible. And now I'm on my way to making it happen.