Nicki Machin

Hello, my name is Nicki. I’ve been a client of The Aspire Partnership since 2004, so it’s been a long time, and it wasn’t Aspire then; it’s gone through various generations, and I’m working with Ken Hall at the moment.

I was actually introduced to Steve Pine by a family friend because I had recently lost my husband and had two teenage boys at the time to look after and plan for.

I felt that I needed to provide some security for my boys. I wanted life insurance, and I wanted critical illness cover in case I couldn’t work anymore. I wanted the reassurance of knowing that there was somebody there working on my behalf and that I didn’t have to carry all this myself.

I’ve got confidence in Ken and his recommendations through proof of time with what he’s done. He’s become a friend as well as a professional adviser. We talk about lots of things other than financial affairs, investments and insurance. It’s a very easy meeting when I do meet with him.

The most recent thing they’ve been able to help me with is Inheritance Tax issues, retirement planning, and amalgamating pensions so that I can enjoy a long and happy retirement with financial security.

While I’ve been working with The Aspire Partnership, I’ve definitely felt more secure about my financial future. I feel confident that they are working for my benefit with investment advice, financial planning, etc., and I feel reassured that everything they do is in my best interests.

The three words I would use to describe Ken are, first of all, friendly, reassuring, and approachable.

Aspire and Ken keep me up to date with our regular, normally twice-yearly meetings. So, I know exactly where I am, and I can use The Aspire Partnership app at any point to check how my investments are doing. Any questions at all that I have, I just get in touch with Ken, and I always have a really speedy, efficient response.

The best thing about working with Ken, I find, is that if I’m not quite sure about something he’s trying to explain to me, I can say to him, “Can we just stop there and go back a bit? And can you explain it more to me?” and he always takes the time to make sure that I understand everything completely and that I’m happy with what he’s saying.

I certainly would recommend Ken and The Aspire Partnership. The reason is that they’ve looked after my financial affairs since 2004, and everything that they’ve done for me has worked to my benefit, so I cannot praise or recommend them highly enough.