I was looking for additional financial advice. I was impressed with their transparency, integrity and also with the fact that they seem proactive. I have always been impressed with what I have seen and heard - I have been impressed by their dedication. There are agreed parameters in which LSS operate when I am on holiday. They are pretty well versed in what I am up to, what my needs are, that I need to adapt a fairly conservative approach and that there must be transparency. The first thing to do is to discuss with your brokers what your objectives are – I want integrity and I want performance and London Stone have delivered performance in excess of expectation over the years.
Case Study
Christopher Minter, is quite a character and a long standing client of the firm. He lives with his wonderfully charming wife Lynda, in Fulham, West London and has been working with us now since 2014.
He was born in 1933 but is every bit as strong and fit as anybody twenty years his junior. His sharp wit and intellect coupled with his generous sense of humour makes it a joy to speak to him. Never one to miss a party, he’s already making plans for his 90th birthday and has invited the London Stone team to attend. Of course, it would be an honour to meet Chris and his wife again. Over the years we’ve met many times for dinner and events and built more than just a working relationship together. He really is now a friend to everybody who works here.
Whilst building great share portfolios is important, we believe that it’s more important to build great relationships. That’s been a big part of our success and why our clients choose to use us. We have the ability to connect to our clients on a personal level that the large multi-nationals just don’t have.
And we know that from building relationships based on trust, it’s easier for successful portfolios to follow.
Chris is a smart, intelligent investor and has been around in the investment game for a very long time. He opened his first bank account at the age of 17 and bought his first share in the newly floated retail company, Tescos at just 25p back in 1947. It was recommended to him by his then mentor who was a close friend of his father and who guided Chris through these early years.
In 1974 Chris went to Hong Kong to work for a media and advertising company with the plan to be there for just a couple of years. Fast forward 14 years later and he was still there although now his passion had turned from advertising to investing and the stock market.
That bug has stayed with him to this day which is why we still regularly receive emails of stock ideas from Chris. Some of his recommendations are so good we’ve even joked that we should take him out of retirement so that he can come and work with us!
With sound financial planning Chris and Lynda have built a substantial residential property portfolio of more than £5m in properties in the South East including Oxford, Cambridge and Exeter. With the help of London Stone Securities and Rathbones he has also built an impressive share portfolio which continues to pay him a regular income with sensible capital appreciation in low to medium risk investments.
Chris has always had a lot of interest from wealth management firms over the years who wanted to look after his business and so we’ve always been intrigued why he chose London Stone.
He answers directly, “I chose London Stone because I knew that you could do the job. I wasn’t looking to become rich and I didn’t care too much for politics. I wanted a personal firm that has values and that I could trust.”
He goes on, “I know the stock market has its ups and downs and I wanted to share that journey with somebody. I didn’t expect to always make money, but I wanted the intention of my advisor to be genuine.”
It turns out that in 2014 Chris was being chased by more than a dozen firms for his business. In the end he opted for just two of them - London Stone Securities and Rathbones, and he’s been with both of us ever since.
Chris still enjoys finance but he’s comfortable in the knowledge that his shares are being taken care of for him and his wife. He doesn’t need to worry about them anymore. That also leaves more time for Chris to do the thing that he loves most like going to the gym, reading books on military history, and enjoying a good glass of red wine with friends.
Every person has an idea of what their perfect life might look like but very few people take the time to work out how to achieve it.
As long as you have a clear plan you have a chance to make those dreams a reality and that’s exactly what Chris did.