I honestly wished I had known Steve 15 years ago, in working with Steve I am very comfortable with my retirement plans. Steve is very informative, patient and speaks in plain English. He has focused on my goals, ensured my super and investments are working hard for me and we have regular “check ups” to ensure I am staying on track. Steve’s service is truly a one stop shop as he has a network of trusted professionals (e.g. mortgage broker, solicitor, accountants) he works with us to ensure the best outcomes. I highly recommend Steve to my colleagues, family and friends
James is extremely efficient and is excellent at keeping his clients up to date and informed. Any questions are answered immediately which is greatly appreciated when you are an overseas client.
During COVID times when things have been exceptionally difficult for us James has gone beyond his call of duty. He has checked in on how we are coping being separated with my husband in Australia and me stuck in Canada, showing that level of care and consideration is not often found in this younger age group
From a client perspective, we feel like our needs are paramount and James never fails to deliver in a timely and professional manner, and always with our best interests in front of mind.
James is a very conscientious, capable and organised person. He, along with the other team members, have minimised the stress associated with managing all of our financial information/data and has enabled us to relax, with the assurance that our financial affairs are in order, especially at tax time.
His advice has given us confidence that we are maximising growth whilst minimizing tax. Towards retirement, we know that James, and the Stratus team, will ensure we are generating enough income to provide funds for the short term without jeopardising our long-term plans.
Over the past five years our financial services needs have evolved from simple risk management products and superannuation portfolios to a relatively complex self-managed superannuation fund integrated with our insurances and estate planning needs. The future proofed bundle of products that were first put in place by our advisor James Marshall has enabled us to transition easily through each phase of this process as our needs evolved and legislation changed. We now benefit from a robust and secure financial future that enables us to enjoy the present.
Stratus Financial Group in Brisbane has provided us with a huge range of effective financial advice that covers so many factors of our life. Many of these areas extended past what we thought we would ever need. However, with my husband being diagnosed with terminal cancer, we have realised how beneficial the advice and covers put in place for our family has been. There is no area of our life untouched by this diagnosis and we are incredibly grateful to Stratus for having the strategic foresight and knowledge to have provided such a beneficial suite of protection and advice. This has given us the freedom to focus on spending time together knowing that our family is and will continue to be financially secure into the future. During this very difficult time, Stratus staff and associates have been amazingly supportive of us, as financial advisers and as kind and genuine people.
I have been with Brett for over 10 years and highly recommend his financial management services – managing super, insurance needs. The team is very knowledgeable and responsive and great to deal with.
A friend referred us to Brett and the Stratus rest of the team 4 years ago as we were looking for professional help to get better organized, restructure our investments for tax efficiency, maximize superannuation entitlements, and finally ensure protections were in place for ourselves and the family into the future. A lot of effort went into the initial activities; working with us overseas, that was handled with empathy, quickly, efficiently and reasonably priced, leaving us as satisfied customers. We’re happy to refer others to Stratus.
All of the members of the team at Stratus Financial are truly professional and are focused on delivering the best possible client outcomes. They continue to invest time to understand my life goals and then shape financial strategies to support achieving them. Their customer service is excellent. I highly recommend them to anyone who is seeking knowledgeable, experienced and trustworthy advisors to partner with you to plan and manage your financial future.
Brett and his team have provided great financial planning and wealth building support to my partner and I for many years and while we’ve seen our financial position improve year on year we didn’t appreciate the true value of such great advice until it was needed – due to recent unforeseen health issues we benefited from a great suite of insurances selected by Brett that has made our dark days that bit brighter. The fantastic service extended to full management of our insurance claims to ensure we received maximum value from the policies. Thank you.
James provided an exceptional level of service that was prompt, professional and targeted to my specific needs. He displayed great enthusiasm and was a pleasure to deal with. Would highly recommend him.
I’ve known James for five years, during which time he has always been a pleasure to work with. His considerable knowledge surrounding structures and his technical expertise translates to an excellent understanding of the fundamentals of financial planning. It’s easy to work together on a client with James – his diligence and efficiency means any information I need as the legal advisor is not only received quickly and accurately, but is presented in a manner that is easy to understand. His care and consideration of his clients is easy to see, and it’s without hesitation that I recommend James and the Stratus team.
Steve has been a wonderful addition to our financial success. He has helped my husband and I to envisage beyond the now and into retirement. I understand how every piece of our financial pie now works to create one that has an icing layer and a cherry on top. Thanks Steve for your wonderful advice and ongoing assistance.
Your regular meetings keep us on track and disciplined to achieve our goals.
I am now in a position where I could retire. I maintain upside exposure to the investments I want exposure to and ensure that all of my taxation issues are covered. I left the company recently and am now comfortable that I could retire if I wanted to. Both Helen and I can now do what what we want, when we want to.
I would refer Brett without hesitation and I have already referred them to others. I would have been in dire straits without Brett’s advice and can honestly say Brett’s recommendations are the best advice I have been given.
Steve has assisted us with advice on a range of insurance requirements, superannuation planning and general investment strategies for many years now. Throughout all of that time, our needs have evolved quite significantly but Steve has always taken the time to ensure he has a full and current understanding of what those needs were at any given time, and that the advice he has provided was tailored accordingly. We have been happy to recommend Steve to numerous friends, family members and business associates over the years and hope to continue working with him for many more years to come.
The depth of experience and collective knowledge of the Stratus Financial Group’s Brisbane team literally changed our life. Since engaging Brett and his team to provide investment and risk management advice our situation changed dramatically with news of a terminal illness, but Stratus had put in place a bundle of insurance and investment products that could evolve with our needs and has us well placed for continued financial security in early retirement. Where we needed assistance that was outside of the Stratus capability, such as estate planning or legal support, Stratus coordinated the external resources we needed and integrated everything to make it as easy as possible to manage our affairs at a difficult time.
We recently came into a small inheritance. Steve’s approach was not just to look at investing this money but to review our current circumstances and longer term goals and set in place a broader financial and investment strategy (including estate planning, insurance as well as investments). Steve continues to regularly check in with us to see how we are progressing. Steve’s skills and support have allowed us to build a strong financial platform for our future.
I sought advice from James regarding insurance. James took the time to listen to what I wanted, thoroughly research my existing policies and answered all my questions. He provided a recommendation that I was happy with. I am incredibly pleased to have James as my trusted adviser and strongly recommend him to my friends, family and colleagues. His professionalism, knowledge and integrity are without question.
Steve has given me excellent, thorough advice for my superannuation, shares and investments for over 10 years. He explains my financial situation, options available and how they impact on my situation in a simple and easy to understand manner. While we have long term goals in place, he is able to adjust strategies to reflect any changing situations in my life. Steve works closely with my accountant to ensure a seamless approach to my financial planning. Distance is not an issue, as we are able to work with Steve either remotely or in face to face meetings. Steve is thorough, caring and committed to understanding my goals; I am very happy to recommend Steve to my friends and family.
Brett is someone I trust managing our investments and financial planning. It gives me more time to work on my own priorities.
We value our regular reviews and having a relationship built on trust, with Brett. This enables us to concentrate on our priorities in life and do the things we are good at.
Brett was able to provide me with the initial advice we sought. However, in his initial work with us he presented a picture of our situation. This was the first time anyone had ever really understood our position enough to present a succinct picture of our total position on one page. From there Brett helped us with our annual tax return requirements and management of our Self Managed Super Fund. This was the first time we were ever able to provide our accountants with tax return information before October of the same year.
Brett Cribb is a highly qualified and experienced financial adviser, and an all-round good guy who genuinely cares about his clients. His approach is truly holistic, and it goes without saying that I absolutely recommend him and his team to others.