Jo Hudson

Hi, I’m Jo Hudson. I’ve been a client of Anthony Ward from Blackstone IFA for more than 25 years.

I was part of a money purchase plan with a company that I worked for, and I was probably in my late 20s or early 30s and wanted additional advice on whether to put more money into my money purchase plan or whether to have other investments as well.

My initial contact was with Anthony, which came from my parents, as they had financial advice from a company that he had been working for, and I carried on working with Anthony as a result of that initial contact.

Anthony did a very thorough assessment of my attitude to money. He’s very interested and is a very good listener. He is also very trusting, and it made me feel that I could tell him about what I wanted to do with my money, what my aspirations were, and so on, and that journey has continued.

Anthony’s been able to help me with pensions and consolidating pensions. He has also helped with investments in terms of identifying new areas to look at to reap benefits. When I’ve had additional money, he’s looked at higher-risk investments for me, so we looked at EISs and made some investments there. He explained very clearly what the risks were and looked at what percentage of my portfolio I wanted to put into that. He’s also advised on many areas outside of the portfolio that he looks after, such as an investment property that I have and also things like wills as well, so, making sure we’ve got Power of Attorney and wills in place and that sort of thing.

I feel secure. I feel that my finances are in a good place, and I trust Anthony. He’s a specialist. You need specialists in your life for different things, and he’s a specialist. You go to a dentist because they’re the specialists who look after your teeth; you trust the anaesthetist when you’re having an operation to do their job. So, I trust Anthony to do his job, and I couldn’t do it; I couldn’t look after my finances without him.

I think the three words I would use to describe Anthony would be personable, kind, and compassionate, and he’s at the top of his game!

The best thing about working with Anthony is that I’ve made money. My investments that he’s recommended over the years have made money. Not everything has always made money, but overall, if you look at the portfolio, it has made money. I’ve stuck with the specialist in this area, which is Anthony, and I’ve made money.

I think my financial future is secure. My attitude to risk over the years has changed, and he does a very thorough assessment. When we meet up with him, he’s regularly available, and I can have a phone conversation with him whenever I want to. He understands me and my relationship with money, where I am now in my life cycle, and my financial life cycle. So I feel very financially secure.

I definitely would recommend Anthony without question, and I think having a financial adviser early on is so important rather than just waiting until your retirement stage. Anthony’s been on the whole journey with me since my late 20s. He understood then my desire to still have fun and not really save too much money, but he was always in regular contact with me, and I think over the years, he’s made some really good sound investments and suggestions for me. So, I’m very happy indeed and would definitely recommend him.