Client Profile: Frank & Sue Clark

Sue and I have been clients of GFM since July 2003.

I was a corporate finance director of a large textiles wholesale group and member of several superannuation boards. Susan was a senior legal secretary.

We retired at the end of 2001 and decided that a Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) was appropriate to our needs.

Sue’s brother Graham, also an accountant, strongly suggested that we talk to GFM about our fund and plans for the future. Graham mentioned GFM were SMSF specialists with genuine expertise in the area. Back in 2003 there were not too many financial advisers that worked with SMSF trustees, so we were pleased to find one that had significant skill in the area.

We were extremely impressed with their knowledge of superannuation and the opportunities that it provided. They quickly pointed out the changing needs and solutions during the transition from employment to retirement, and how to develop an adequate income stream while still retaining a well-balanced, yet reasonably secure investment portfolio with minimal taxation requirements.

The fact that they were privately owned was very important to us. We understood GFM was self licenced.

Paul Nicol became our adviser and we were pleasantly surprised with his knowledge and professionalism, although he seemed so young at the time.

We have come to enjoy our relationship with Paul immensely and, together with all his colleagues at GFM, their courtesy and friendliness now makes us feel more like family.

With their team of planners, para-planners and support-staff constantly researching the investment market and sharing this information, we are so much better informed than we would be trying to manage our own funds.

Together with all this support, we are also provided with the seamless completion of all accounting, reporting and taxation services, both meaningful and timely.

Since joining GFM, we have been able to spend much more time with our two daughters and granddaughter in Gippsland, see more of our friends and pursue our hobbies of gardening, golf, art, reading and travel. We like the GFM client-centric approach and have no hesitation in referring them to family and friends.