Martin Johnston on advice, trust and doing the right thing

Like many advisers, Martin didn’t grow up dreaming of a career in finance. “At school, the careers adviser told me to join the army, it was around the time of the Iraq war, so I wasn’t exactly keen on that idea.”

Instead, he fell into finance by accident. After university in Gloucester, he found a local admin role “to pay the bills and stay near my girlfriend – now my wife.” He laughs. “I hated what I was doing, endless spreadsheets and form-filling, but it gave me a glimpse into the industry.”

That glimpse was enough to spark an interest. In 2006, he joined what’s now Amber River HDA and has stayed for nearly two decades. He learned the ropes under an experienced mentor who, he says, “taught me what good advice looks like: honest, clear, and always in the client’s best interest.”

What’s kept Martin in the profession for so long isn’t ambition or targets, it’s people. “The idea that someone would ask for my advice, and even pay for it, was flattering at first,” he says. “But then you realise the responsibility. You can’t teach someone to care. You either do, or you don’t.”

Over the years, many of his clients have become like extended family. “Some of them have watched my kids grow up. They still ask how Eloise and Charles are doing when they come in,” he says. “That kind of trust takes years to build.”

It’s also what’s kept him loyal to Robin and the team at Amber River HDA. “We’ve always been the good guys,” he says simply. “Never sales-driven, never pressured. And because we’re independent, we’re not tied to any one provider or product. It’s about doing what’s right for the client, not just selling people products.”

When asked to recall a recent success, Martin doesn’t mention performance figures or market timing. Instead, he talks about Paul and Sally, a couple who arrived with a lifetime’s worth of pension statements and a simple question: Can we retire?

“They had pensions scattered everywhere,” he says. “What they really needed was clarity and reassurance.”

Martin helped them identify what they wanted life to look like in retirement, built a budget around that vision, and streamlined their pensions into a single, coherent plan.

“I think they knew that they could have retired years earlier,” he says. “Sometimes people just need someone to tell them the obvious, but also with the maths to back it up. I spend a lot of my time trying to get people to spend their money, it’s always very gratifying to hear of the plans people have and then start to see them living it!”

In nearly two decades as an adviser, Martin has seen his share of crises, from the 2008 financial crash to the volatility of the COVID years. “Experience matters,” he says. “Markets are cyclical; they go down, they recover. That’s why you have a plan. The worst thing people can do is make short-term decisions based on headlines.”

When markets wobble, he doesn’t wait for clients to call. “I’ll often pick up the phone or send a quick message,” he says. “They need to know we’re on it. Sometimes just hearing your adviser’s voice is enough.”

That sense of proactive care runs through his entire approach. “That’s the difference between caring and just managing assets,” he says. “You’ve got to be proactive.”

Most of Martin’s clients are in their fifties and sixties, approaching or enjoying retirement. But he also works with businesses and their employees through workplace pensions, something he finds increasingly rewarding.

“When I talk to a room full of twenty-somethings, I’m amazed at how engaged they are,” he says. “They ask about pensions before they’ve even started the job. Auto-enrolment has really changed things; people expect to save now.”

He adds with a smile, “When I was their age, I didn’t even know I had a pension until four months into my first job!”

Despite the uncertainty caused by rising living costs and changing pension rules, Martin remains optimistic. “If everything stayed the same, we’d be out of a job,” he says. “The value of advice is in adapting when the government keeps moving the goalposts.”

When asked what makes him different, Martin hesitates. “It’s difficult to compare yourself to others, as I’ve only experienced how we do things her at Amber River HDA” he says modestly. “But the feedback we get is about service. We’re proactive, we speak plainly, and we don’t hide behind 80-page reports. People appreciate that.”

That trust flows both ways. Within the firm, Martin mentors younger advisers and insists on a team-first mindset. “They’re not my clients,” he says. “They’re our clients. We all take pride in looking after them.”

Away from the office, Martin describes himself as “a bit of a homebody” with a love of rugby, exercise, guitars and family life. “I’ve got five guitars,” he says with a grin. “I play in my man cave, mostly Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. It’s my stress relief. Advising people through uncertain times can be intense, and playing helps me switch off.”

Home life centres around his wife, Catherine, their teenage children, and the family’s spaniel, Sadeka, Arabic for “female friend. “If you’ve had a bad day, she puts it in perspective,” he says fondly.

Through Amber River, Martin is also involved in local charity work, supporting Cotswold Riding for the Disabled. “It’s grounding,” he says. “You think you’ve had a bad day, then you see what some of those kids face. It reminds you what really matters.”

For Martin, doing the right thing isn’t a slogan, it’s the foundation of his work. “You get what you see with me,” he says. “I’m not slick, I’m not selling anything. It’s about being genuine and doing the right thing because it’s the right thing. If you care about people, everything else follows.”

That belief has guided him through every change in the industry, and it’s why his clients stay loyal through every market cycle.

“When Amber River came along, I was worried we might lose our identity,” he admits. “But actually, it’s been great. It’s given us more scale and resources without changing who we are. We’re still the same team, still focused on doing what’s right for our clients.”