Mark Coomber

Please provide a brief comment about your experience with Mark

Test

What were the circumstances that caused you to initially look for an adviser?

Being fairly naive - I was looking for an experienced professional to provide a recommendation that I could trust, but also was interested and investing in coaching me on the "how" and "why".

How has Mark Coomber helped you?

Mark has been very good at providing consistent challenge and reinforcing fundamental investment advice. He's also been willing to explain how various financial instruments work and I've found this very helpful. He has been engaged when I reflected on my own decision making and where that could have improved.

Have you seen the outcome you were hoping for?

It's very difficult not to be results-oriented given the last five years or so. There have been unforeseen knocks due to the geopolitical climate and pandemic but this also led to overperformance (unforeseen, unjustified) in some asset classes that flouts established wisdom. I think that Mark has steered me to an outcome in line with what I asked for as well as he could and that it's best to focus on that (and the importance of communication and re-assessing personal circumstances and trajectory) rather than the noise. He was also a very steadying voice and kept me fixed on long-term outlook whereas without his advice, I may have been prone to making unnecessary, poor decisions in complex circumstances.

What could they have done better?

I think that I didn't invest sufficient time and thought into my circumstances (relatively young, few commitments, can absorb risk) or understand the importance of this and that we could have interrogated that better, though as a client this is A) mostly a lesson for me and B) is influenced somewhat by results-based thinking. I think this is the only point I can think of which says to me that Mark is doing a good job and is giving me the tools to reflect and learn as an investor - through speaking with him I was able to draw the right insights after the fact.

What were the circumstances that caused you to initially look for an adviser?

Investment of the tax free money from my pension to grow to a level to pay off our outstanding mortgage.

How has Mark Coomber helped you?

Mark's guidance and suggestions during this challenging period for investment has been exemplary, much appreciated and offered with goodwill during all of our discussions. We have unquestionably benefited from his advice and followed accordingly and it's just unfortunate that global events completely outside of Mark's control, notably war in Europe, rising inflation, increased interest rates etc conspired against the investments performing to levels we had originally hoped for

Have you seen the outcome you were hoping for?

No, but circumstances have been largely outside of Mark's control. Our investment has shrunk, we have lost money at a time when our mortgage repayments trebled so we lost heavily on both levels. As I say, this was outside of Mark's control and we were unfortunate in that our relationship began at the start of the perfect storm (end of Covid, war by Putin, very high level of inflation, subsequent rise in interest rates) so we invested our tax free money when in hindsight we should have used the majority of the cash to pay off chunks of our mortgage in advance of when we did actually take the decision to do exactly that. The last 6-9 months has seen investments bounce back a little but not yet enough to offset the original value.

What could they have done better?

Very little I think, unless Mark had a crystal ball looking into the future.

What were the circumstances that caused you to initially look for an adviser?

I had made no payments into a pension for some time and needed to save for my retirement.

How has Mark Coomber helped you?

He helped me with setting up a SIPP to receive my monthly savings and moved some of my pension schemes over to the SIPP.

Have you seen the outcome you were hoping for?

Yes, I now have considerable pension savings and I am regularly informed of the performance of the investments.

What could they have done better?

I can't think of anything.

What were the circumstances that caused you to initially look for an adviser?

Financial planning for retirement. Requirement to set up a personal pension.

How has Mark Coomber helped you?

He has given clear advice and instigated Taylor made arrangement for my specific circumstances.

Have you seen the outcome you were hoping for?

Yes. I feel comfortable with the retirement planning and arrangements in place.