BY SAM RICHARDS
A gift of green How two Equilibrium clients helped their children and the planet
After meeting years earlier whilst both working in the Armed Forces, Vince Pearson and Lynda Baxter reconnected in 2007. By this point, each had three children of their own, forming what they refer to as their ‘blended family’ of six children ranging from age 18 to 36. Both Vince and Lynda had enjoyed successful careers; Lynda worked as a management consultant and had her own company, whilst Vince worked in contract catering, becoming a board member of a business which sold in 2016. Vince still works as a non-executive for a hospitality consultancy, giving him more time to enjoy the wealth they have earned, whilst Lynda has discovered her passion for art, successfully selling her pieces. Although Lynda jokes that their attitude to money can be summed up as ‘basically, Vince spends it all’, the couple’s experience in business armed them with a keen understanding and aptitude for planning. It was important to them that they chose a financial planner that they could trust. “Neither of us had ever used a company to manage our investments,” Lynda explained. “So that was a major mental shift of ‘we have to trust these guys.’” Vince and Lynda visited agencies that were local to them in Norfolk as well as national firms, viewing Equilibrium as a ‘dark horse’ who they were giving a chance based on a recommendation from a trusted colleague of Vince. “We were actually blown away by Andy Baker and Equilibrium,” Vince recalled. “All of the others followed a similar script of ‘this is who we are, this is what we do, we can offer you a bespoke service’, but they didn’t really give us an awful lot. “What Andy did was quite different – he assumed we’d been a client of Equilibrium for a year and gave us a presentation which was an update on
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