The Pagliaro family business and finances

“We have had bankers before, but no-one wanted to involve themselves this much.”

That’s Mary-Anne Pagliaro. For four years, she and husband John have turned to Brendan Turnbull for financial advice.

And Brendan has always been there to help, even when he hasn’t known what to say. That’s important.

“If he doesn’t know, he’ll admit it, go and find out, and then come back in a time-effective manner,” Mary-Anne said. “I really respect that he knows his limitations, tells you and then does something about it.

“He always does what he says he is going to do.

“Brendan is just very impressive with his knowledge, dedication and ability to make us feel we are important.”

Combine all these qualities and you have what won the Pagliaros over at their first, reluctant, meeting.

“Brendan was working for a bank at the time and they had approached us to switch to them several times,” Mary-Anne said. “Eventually, we agreed to have a chat but we had no intention of changing – we were happy where we were.

“Within 10 minutes of meeting Brendan, that changed.”

Since then, of course, Brendan has formed his own business and the Pagliaros still make Brendan their first point of contact.

John Pagliaro is a dermatologist who runs a practice in partnership, then there are the couple’s personal accounts, a self-managed super fund, other investments and a family trust. In the loop, among others, there are three banks, the dermatology practice manager and the family accountant.

Mary-Anne says you could consider Brendan the glue in their financial structure, making it strong.

“Brendan has developed a strategy to make our money work best for us.

“We are always looking more at whether we invest in property or shares and which money we use to invest.

“We are quite conservative and Brendan always brings us back to that whenever we are considering new ideas. He knows what we are comfortable with.

“If we were happy to take blind advice, it would only be from him.”

It’s a strong relationship and it will only get stronger with the family’s eldest son, Thomas, 25, having recently finished his medical degree and now working as a doctor.

“We trust Brendan with our children’s finances, and that is the best endorsement you can give,” Mary-Anne says.

Throughout university, financial institutions aggressively courted Thomas and his peers, sponsoring their sports teams and throwing them parties. But Brendan offered something none of the others could.

“Thomas had a conversation with Brendan and found him to be far more trustworthy than all the other guys,” Mary-Anne said.

It is the same reason the Pagliaros continue to choose to work with Brendan.

“Brendan is a genuine person who actually cares about you as an individual. You matter.

“You are not allied with any bank and beholden to their products. You get what is best for you.”