Kathleen Wallace

How long have you worked with Rosebridge?

My name is Kathleen Wallace. I’ve been a client with Steven for 15 years. I just sold my businesses to a company in London, and I had a large lump sum of money. I wanted to invest it carefully and make sure it grew, but also ensure it was safe.

How has Steven helped you?

Everything really, he’s a personal friend. By trusting him with my money and really trusting him in my life. It took a long time and a lot of work to earn this money. Therefore, I wanted to make sure that it was carefully managed and safe. So, he started with investing money, slowly. Now he is really involved in everything. He sets up trusts for me, he sets up pensions for me now, as the pension only moved over recently. He does planning, he provides investment advice, and he’s now giving advice to my children. You name it, he does it.

How does working with Steven make you feel?

I feel that his advice is good advice, but he also listens to me. I question quite a lot and he will come up with ideas and we will bounce things back and forth. I think trust is the main thing and feeling secure that everything I’ve earned through my life is safe.

Why did you choose to work with Rosebridge?

So, I did my homework and thought “yeah, I think this person and this company could be trusted”. I then met Steven on a one-to-one basis along with my accountant. I felt comfortable with him. I felt that I could trust him. The thing that particularly interests me was that he said, “take your time”. He didn’t grab what I had. He said: “Take your time, think about where you’re going. You’ve just sold your businesses, you’ve got a lot happening, take your time and think. I don’t want your money invested straightaway. You need to know where you’re going before we can start making those decisions.” And that’s sold it to me really.

Which three words would you use to describe Rosebridge?

Independent, trustworthy and knowledgeable.

What is the best piece of advice Rosebridge has given you?

Bide your time once you’ve sold your business. Bide your time, take your time, maybe 12 months even. Think about what you want to do with your life, what you want to do with your assets, what you want to do for your family and for yourself. Don’t rush into things; there’s plenty of time in the grand scheme of things, with investments over the long term. Take your time as one year is nothing compared to your life.

How does Rosebridge keep you up to date?

I have quarterly meetings with them, so I get reports on a three-monthly basis. I can ring them anytime. Sometimes they ring me if there are issues. For example, supposing there’s a crash in the market, or there was a blip. He wouldn’t wait for me to ring him, but would ring me and say “by the way ‘x’ has happened and this is why you’re going to find that there’s been a drop”. Because investments go up as well as down – that’s how it is. He also has senior advisors and if we have a client, we are invited to join a Zoom meeting with them. Pre-Covid we actually had meetings face-to-face in a group where we could ask particular questions about international issues that would affect our finances, which may then have a knock-on effect on my portfolio

What’s the best thing about working with Rosebridge?

They know me very well. I’ve been with them for 15 years but they know me very well. They know my family circumstances. So, I feel secure and that they are working for me, and not just working for themselves.

Would you recommend Rosebridge to other people?

Yes, I would, and I have. Whether they’ve taken it up again, it’s confidential. So, I don’t know if anyone’s taken up that recommendation. But yes, I would. Why? When people have asked me who would you recommend? I always say the reasons are their independence, personal touch, trustworthiness, expertise, knowledge, friendliness, as they’re actually a very friendly company.

As a single female entrepreneur, how important is it to have Rosebridge as your financial planners?

As a single female entrepreneur, I might be slightly unique at Rosebridge, in as much as I sold my businesses. I don’t have a partner who I can bounce financial ideas off of. Steven is the person I bounce all my questions off of and the company. So, it’s very important that I feel safe with this company, and if I didn’t I wouldn’t have been here for 15 years.