Client Profile: Jeanette Bennett & Fred Douglas
Jeanette has kindly written the article on their working life, retirement and relationship with GFM Wealth Advisory. We greatly appreciate her contribution to Trade Secrets.
Fred and I have both worked from a very young age and had a few “jobs” before settling on a career in Shopping Centres, where we met. I was leaving the staff Christmas party at 9 pm, and Fred was arriving!
We have managed shopping centres in both NSW and Victoria before moving to Dubai in 2004. Fred was General Manager of Leasing for what was to be The World’s Largest Shopping Centre, Dubai Mall (3 times Chadstone). Being quite naïve about the Middle East, I asked if I could also work given my career; I went for an interview and was given a role, leasing the luxury fashion, mid-level fashion, watches and jewellery and children’s fashion of the Centre (some 200 stores to lease) and reporting to Fred! Our role entailed working with the Architects on the design, space planning, proposed retailers (tenancy mix) and then approaching those retailers and negotiating with them to sign a lease. For the first 6 months, it was Fred and I only before he employed another five others to help us lease 1,200 shops. We had signed a contract for 2 ½ years, but at the end of this period, we had leased 1,000 shops. The construction of the Mall was behind and not opening for another 2 years.
Fred was headhunted to go to Abu Dhabi (120km down a four-lane highway each way, where there is almost no speed limit), where he did it all again for Yas Mall, where Ferrari World is. I went onto The Palm and leased the retail there. We stayed living in Dubai for 10 ½ years. Both professionally and financially it was the best thing we have ever done.
Living in Dubai, we were fortunate to be able to travel both for work and pleasure. We have been to over 40 countries. While still in Dubai, we bought a home on the Murray River in Bundalong near Yarrawonga in Regional Victoria and returned home to live in December 2014. Bundalong is the mecca of water skiing, which we both love to do.
Fred is now retired, serving on a few Boards. I am semi-retired, undertaking short-term management of Shopping Centres when their staff resign, are sick or on maternity leave.
We moved to Maroochydore in Queensland in April 2023 to escape Victoria’s cold and enjoy our love of water sports all year round. We both row and have our own single sculls and have now bought ourselves a surf ski, which we use on the Maroochy River.
Fred represented Australia in the World Over 35’s Water Ski Championships Slalom Division in 2018 in Chile and 2022 in Bordeaux. He was selected again for Spain in September. He competed in the Over 70’s division. He was training 2-3 times a week at an old quarry in Coolum, now a professional waterski facility. Fred reached the Final for the first time and finished 8th of 14 globally. Fred is the current Australian Slalom Champion in the Over 70’s. I still love to ski once a week but have never competed.
Fred is a real adventurer, having done Kokoda, Kilimanjaro, Everest Base Camp, the West-East walk across England, and last year trekked through Switzerland. He trained by carrying a 15 kg backpack and walking through the dunes from Twin Waters up to Coolum and then up Mt Coolum, too! Fred did more trekking this year in Switzerland. He works out twice a day, 6 days a week and is the fittest 74-year-old you will ever know.
A year after returning from Dubai our Financial Advisor of 15+ years was retiring. Our friends Val and Bill had been with GFM since its inception, and they had constantly told us we should be with them. So, we took the opportunity to meet with Paul Nicol at GFM. We moved to GFM and wished we had listened to our friends years earlier! Paul’s energy, knowledge, professionalism, and genuine caring about what we wanted to do with our lives convinced us to join. It has only gone from strength to strength since becoming a client of GFM.
When dealing with your life savings, there has to be utmost trust and respect in their knowledge and professionalism that they will do the right thing. Not only do we feel this, but we want our friends to feel that too, hence we have recommended them.
I love the quarterly reports and Fred has great conversations with Sam Eley, our Adviser, about the investments.
We see GFM as the individual people we deal with, not a “firm”. And each is so caring and professional. We feel part of the GFM “family” now and are reassured that we are in good hands.