Stuart Porter
About Stuart Porter
A financial planning practice built on long-term relationships, cross-border experience and a genuine belief that clarity changes lives.
I began my career in financial services in the United Kingdom in 1988, and spent the 1990s building my own financial planning practice. It was rewarding work — but by the end of the decade, I had a growing sense that there was a much wider world to explore.
We moved to the UAE. That was 2001. We never left.
My Story
I began my career in financial services in the United Kingdom in 1988, and spent the 1990s building my own financial planning practice. It was rewarding work — but by the end of the decade, I had a growing sense that there was a much wider world to explore.
My wife had spent time in Dubai in the 1970s and carried warm memories of the place. We decided to make the move. The UAE offered something the UK could not at that point in our lives: lifestyle, safety, and an exceptional environment in which to raise a young family.
We moved to the UAE. That was 2001. We never left.
Over the past 25 years I have built a practice here that mirrors what I value most about this work: depth over breadth, and relationships over transactions. Most of my clients have been with me for a decade or more. Some for over twenty years. That continuity is not incidental — it is central to how good financial planning actually works.
What I Find Rewarding
There are two moments in this work that I find equally rewarding, and they sit at opposite ends of the planning journey.
The first is the initial conversation with a new client. Often they arrive with a collection of financial arrangements accumulated over years — pensions in the UK, investments on offshore platforms, property in more than one country — that have never been properly connected. Bringing clarity to that picture, and replacing uncertainty with a coherent plan, is genuinely satisfying.
The second is seeing that plan reach its conclusion. Watching a family achieve financial independence. Seeing an estate distributed exactly as the client intended. These moments remind me why the work matters.
Two experiences early in my career shaped how I think about financial planning.
The first involved a widow in her mid-eighties who arrived at my office carrying a worn cardboard box. Her late husband had told her it was important. Inside were share certificates representing a substantial investment portfolio — the result of fifty years of quiet accumulation that had been entirely his domain. She had no knowledge of the stock market, had never needed to, and now found herself alone with an asset she did not understand. I was able to simplify her financial arrangements, provide a reliable income and give her the confidence to live comfortably. It was a reminder that financial planning is as much about people as it is about money.
The second came when a junior colleague asked me to accompany her to a client meeting. The prospect was modestly paid. What we discovered was that he was saving approximately half of his monthly salary — consistently, quietly, and effectively. It was a formative lesson I have never forgotten: it is not what you earn, but what you choose not to spend, that determines your ability to accumulate lasting wealth.
Great British Wills
For many years I told clients the same thing: a will is the cornerstone of any financial plan. Without the right documentation, even the most carefully constructed financial structure can unravel.
The referral process was slow. Lawyers were engaged, documents were drafted, but progress was rarely as timely as the situation warranted.
Then a colleague died unexpectedly in the UAE. I saw at first hand how quickly a family's situation can become complicated when the right paperwork is not in place — particularly for expatriates, where multiple jurisdictions, different legal systems and the absence of automatic legal protections can compound an already devastating situation.
That experience prompted me to act. In 2016 I founded Great British Wills, an estate planning consultancy dedicated to educating and informing British expatriates in the UAE about the importance of having the right documentation in place. It remains an important part of my work.
Professional Background
Living and working in the UAE since 2001 has given me a direct, personal perspective on how financial lives evolve for internationally mobile British families.
Many clients arrive at a familiar point: successful careers, assets accumulated across several jurisdictions, and a collection of financial arrangements that have never been properly coordinated. UK pensions from earlier employment. Offshore investment portfolios. Property in more than one country.
My work is to bring those elements together into a clear structure that serves long-term objectives — and to ensure that structure continues to do so as circumstances evolve.
Professional Standards
Financial planning advice and investment implementation are provided through an international financial advisory organisation licensed and regulated in the UAE.
My professional qualifications include:
• Chartered Financial Planner — meaning advice that meets the UK's most rigorous professional standards — applied to your international situation.
• Fellow of the Personal Finance Society (FPFS)
• STEP — the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners — is a globally recognised professional body of over 22,000 members specialising in wills, trusts and international estates. My STEP qualification underpins both my financial planning work and the estate planning advice provided through Great British Wills.
• 25 years advising British families in the UAE; 37 years in financial services overall.
These qualifications are supported by ongoing continuing professional development and adherence to recognised professional and ethical standards.
Financial decisions often affect families for decades. Professional accountability therefore matters.
Chartered Insurance Institute (CII)
Chartered Financial Planner
Capital Market Authority (CMA)
UAE regulatory framework for financial advisory services
Licence number 608018
STEP Qualified
Cross-border estates
Investment Philosophy
Investment strategy is grounded in long-term academic evidence rather than short-term market forecasting.
Markets rise and fall. Economic conditions evolve. Attempting to anticipate short-term movements rarely produces consistent results.
Instead, portfolios are structured around several enduring principles:
- disciplined asset allocation
- cost awareness
- behavioural consistency
- alignment with clearly defined long-term objectives
The objective is not activity for its own sake.
It is ensuring your financial resources do exactly what you need them to — quietly, consistently, and over the long term.
A Long-Term Advisory Relationship
Financial planning is rarely a single event.
Circumstances evolve. Retirement intentions change. Residency may shift. Family priorities develop over time.
My practice is intentionally structured around a limited number of ongoing advisory relationships. This allows time for considered analysis, thoughtful discussion and consistent oversight.
Most of my clients have been with me for more than ten years. Some for over twenty. That continuity is not incidental — it is central to how effective financial planning works over time.
Experience has shown that the most effective financial decisions are rarely urgent.
They are deliberate, measured and aligned with long-term family priorities.
My Role: The Architect of Your Financial Structure
Financial decisions rarely exist in isolation.
Retirement planning, investment strategy and estate considerations influence one another. Decisions made in one jurisdiction can affect outcomes in another.
Where appropriate I work alongside specialist legal and tax advisers so that financial structures operate effectively within broader planning frameworks.
My role is often similar to that of an architect.
Different professional advisers contribute their expertise where required. My responsibility is ensuring the overall financial structure remains coherent and aligned with long-term objectives.
Publications
Over the years I have written a series of briefing papers on financial planning issues commonly faced by British expatriates in the UAE.
Retirement Planning for British Expats
Understand why the right retirement income strategy begins with the life you want to live — not a spreadsheet.
UK Inheritance Tax for Long-Term Expats
Discover how your residence history, where your assets sit, and recent legislative changes combine to determine what HMRC can claim from your estate.
Pension Strategy for British Professionals Overseas
Learn why international careers routinely disrupt retirement saving — and what to do about it before the damage compounds.
Start a Conversation
If you would like to explore whether my practice is the right fit for your situation, I would welcome an introductory conversation.
A 30-minute video call — no obligation, no sales pitch. Simply a chance to understand where you are and where you want to be.
Arrange an Introductory Conversation