HFMC Wealth’s partnership with PCGB is a dream come true for lifetime Porsche enthusiasts Jeremy Hoyland and Marcus Carlton.
You know you’re talking to a genuine enthusiast when an enquiry about where it all started garners a response that – without repetition, hesitation or deviation – involves the famous Gulf-liveried Porsches of the early 1970s. And that’s exactly what you get with Jeremy Hoyland, CEO of financial management company HFMC Wealth. His passion for Porsche, which is shared by his colleague Marcus Carlton, has been the driving force behind a new partnership with Porsche Club GB.
“I was captivated by the 917 when I was a kid,” says Jeremy. “I just thought it was unbelievable. My favourite drivers were Pedro Rodriguez and Jo Siffert, and that whole Gulf-Porsche era was imprinted on my brain.
“I saw the film Le Mans, based on the 1970 race, with my dad and was completely blown away. Then my mum took me to the 1971 BOAC 1000km race at Brands Hatch. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the Porsche walkover that it had been the previous year when Rodriguez did that amazing drive. I remember standing at Clearways with my mum and it was pouring with rain. I was completely sodden but mesmerised by these big cars being manhandled around the Grand Prix circuit in the wet by the likes of Siffert, Rodriguez, Derek Bell and Brian Redman. That was the beginning of it for me.
“I also loved the 908. My mum’s from Finland, and there was a Finnish racing driver called Leo Kinnunen who co-drove with Rodriguez. He got the fastest lap in the Targa Florio in a 908. That was amazing. To complete a 44-mile lap with 700 corners on those roads in a sports prototype in 33 minutes and 36 seconds was pretty staggering.”
Jeremy learnt to drive in Finland on back roads in a Ford Anglia when he was 11, but it would take a few years for him to turn his childhood interest into Porsche ownership.
“I kept buying Golf GTIs because I thought they were really good value,” he says. “Then one day a client came to our office, looked at the VW and asked if the business wasn’t doing well. I came home and told my wife Jackie that we had to do something about the car! That was in the late 1980s and I bought a 944S. It was a nice car. I can remember sleeping in the back of it, believe it or not, in the car park at the British Grand Prix! Those were the real glamour days of our company.
“It was a bit temperamental, so I sold it and bought a Carrera 2 – a 964. That car was brilliant – I really loved it. After that, I bought a 993 Turbo, which I kept for quite a long time. It was definitely the one that got away. I drove it for seven or eight years and when I sold it I got my money back on it, which I thought was a good deal. They’ve tripled in value since then, and to really compound the pain, I sold it because I went over to the dark side – Ferrari!”
After his Italian sojourn, Jeremy returned to Porsche via a 997 Turbo S. “It was a terrific car and really did the job well, but I’m a bit analogue, even though the PDK is fantastic, so I’ve just bought a 997 GTS Cabriolet but with the manual gearbox. It’s a Gen 2, normally aspirated. I just love the extra engagement of it, and I think it might be a long-term keeper.”
Jeremy doesn’t hesitate when it comes to recounting the highlight of his many years of driving Porsches. “My all-time best experience was ice driving with Below Zero last year. It was in classic 911s for three days in Sweden and it was awesome. One day I’d love to acquire a classic rally prepared 911 and take part in an endurance event. That’s definitely on my wish list.”
Jeremy and Marcus are justifiably proud of HFMC Wealth’s reputation, and the partnership with PCGB felt like a natural fit for them.
“It’s a bit of a dream come true,” says Marcus. “It’s an opportunity to combine our own passion with talking to the sort of people we already know and like to socialise with.
“In terms of what we can offer to members, there’s clearly an affinity there in that we speak the same language, and I think we’re well placed as a company. We’re independent, we’re privately owned by the directors and the staff, so there’s a family feel about our business, and there’s also a family feel about PCGB.”
Jeremy adds: “Our business was originally founded in 1986 and has almost entirely grown through word-of-mouth recommendations. We manage investment assets for hundreds of families, and the real drive of our business is that we work hard to get the planning right in terms of what the future holds, such as whether you’ll have enough money when you retire. All those fundamental questions are very much what we’re about. Cars are a significant element of the financial mix, so they’re as important as a second home or anything else, and you have to take that into consideration. “Our relationship with PCGB started when I was invited to an event where I met Richard Watling and Rob Kellock and we started chatting about cars. It emerged that PCGB didn’t have a wealth management partner, so we arranged to meet up at a charitable event that our company organises. We had Derek Bell there, and Andy Wallace and Gerhard Berger were driving people around and it was a lovely day.
“We got on really well, and at the end of it we decided to go to PCGB HQ and chat about what we could do,” adds Jeremy. “We’re really thrilled about the partnership. We’re going to the next factory visit, as well as Silverstone Classic in July and the national meeting at Ragley Hall in September. We’ll be involved and having fun.”
Visit HFMCWealth.com/PCGB