Julian, tell us a little about Intelligent Money and the idea behind it.

20 years ago, I decided to build a new investment company that was different to anything else available. Something very personal, in an old school private banking way, yet widely accessible and low cost.

I was fortunate enough to have already made enough to not need any external financial backers who would want to influence my direction to maximise profits. This enabled me to build organically and constantly reinvest back into the business to get it where I wanted it to be. It also meant I could stay true to my ideals, without compromise.

My vision was to create a family office run for our extended family of Private Clients, regardless of their individual wealth. Unfortunately, most investment managers are only interested in working with clients who already have significant wealth. I believe our success was due to us being fully inclusive with those just starting out investing.

We take the view that if we are doing our job properly then those just starting off today are tomorrow's well established clients. They are therefore as important as those who have generations of multi-million pound wealth already invested with us.

Where did your passion for cars come from and what are you currently running?

At a very early age, I would have been at primary school, my dad bought a beautiful Mercedes 350SL, which made a big impression on me. Then not long later, a neighbour who was a car dealer came home with a Ferrari Dino and my world was blown away. I used to stand at the bottom of our drive just looking at it.

My own ownership journey really started with my first Porsche, a beautiful deep blue example with tan leather, and since then I have pretty much stuck with German, British and Italian marques. I honestly have not had that many motors as I tend to keep them for quite a long time, but what I have had includes Ferrari, Maserati, Aston Martin, Bentley, Porsche and I have my deposit down on the new Lotus Emira.

I always have a Range Rover alongside the sports and GT cars and have just bought a classic 911 SC Targa. I did have my eye on a McLaren 570S or a 650S Spyder, though the 720S was also very compelling, but then decided to go for the new Lotus first. My 911 SC is the one I am most excited about at the moment though!

Who are you currently sponsoring and partnering up with?

Well, the Intelligent Money British GT Championship is widely known about and is just an incredible championship. I feel very lucky to be working so closely with SRO on this as we prepare for our 3rd year together and it is great to be part of the of the whole team event.

I also got together with SKY Sports to bring Jenson Button over from LA to race with Chris Buncombe with their Jenson Team Rocket McLaren 720S GT3 at the Silverstone 500 last year. It was very nice to get some pretty cool thank you presents from Jenson and Chris, one of which is hanging on my study wall and the others I enjoy wearing!

For several years now we have also sponsored the finance section on PistonHeads where I really enjoy actively commenting with a fantastic bunch of people, the same with PureGT. I also have Intelligent Money Racing, our own club level GT team headed up by the fantastic driver and engineer, Steve Hewson. I want to become more involved in that for 2022.

Being a big fan of British marques, I have a shareholding in the new TVR relaunch company, which is going to be either one of my best or worst ever personal investments!

Of course, my latest venture is joining Mark and the team at Redline as a shareholder and taking on financial development and oversight. I have known Mark for many years now and watched Redline grow under his passionate stewardship, so it is a privilege to be brought into his inner circle and bring my financial and investment experience, together with my passion for cars, towards the next transformational stage in Redline's growth and distribution.

You have a habit of popping up in unexpected places. Where next will we see you?

An interesting one! Sunday Times award winning global bestseller author Stephen Leather has written me in as the acting head of MI6 in the latest Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd novel, Fast Track

I am working with him on the role of Executive Producer in turning his 'Spider' Shepherd series into movies. Steve has already had global success with the adaptation of his novel The Chinaman, which was released under the title The Foreigner, staring Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan.

Hollywood legend David Marconi (writer of Enemy of the State, starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman, and the highest ever box office grossing Die Hard movie, Live Free or Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis) has already expressed an interest in writing the screenplay for the first ‘Spider’ Shepherd movie and Martin Campbell, director of Piers Brosnan’s and Daniel Craig’s respective debut James Bond films, GoldenEye and Casino Royale, has also expressed an interest in directing. I am soon starting work on casting and locations, and it will also have some very nice cars in it!

You’ve also been involved in TV, media and parliament …

You are usually invited to be part of these things based upon your knowledge, expertise and experience, so I guess in my case I must have just got lucky instead!

My media coverage actually started with being asked for my opinion – or to explain different investments – in national newspapers, then on TV. I also used to be a regular guest on BBC Radio Nottingham after using their studios to do an interview for Radio 4’s Money Box when I was unable to get to London once.

Parliament came about during the consultation for the introduction of workplace pension automatic enrolment and I did a lot of work with ministers on the impact of charges and how they should be capped, which did make it through to the final legislation.

Any sage investment advice for our readers?

Only invest in what you understand. Everyone has work or personal insights that they can use in selecting different investments. You don’t need an in-depth knowledge, but if you don’t understand something then find someone like us who can explain it fully, in plain English, until you are confident in your decision making. Otherwise, don’t invest your money into it.

Secondly, understand the difference between tax allowances and asset classes. The Sunday Times used to really annoy me every week by asking guests what was better, a pension or property? Well, one is a tax allowance and the other is an asset class. You can hold property, albeit it not residential, as an asset class within your highly tax efficient pension allowance.

All pensions and ISAs are just tax allowances, it is the assets you select to hold inside them that will be responsible for your gains, with the allowances they are wrapped up in shielding these gains from tax.

The investment and insurance industry has had many decades to combine these two things (tax allowances and assets) into products, and they have done such a good job of it that most people now see them as such, rather than the two separate components they really are.

When you understand this, you discover immense freedom to maximise investment returns and minimise your tax bills. This is something that is absolutely central to the way Intelligent Money works.

Also, keep an eye on costs as these detract from investment returns. Financial advisers are usually the most expensive part in the food chain – often doubling the total costs – and for most people they are not even required.

Financial and tax planning, coupled with low cost and robust investment management, is what is important in saving you tax and building your future wealth and independence.

You can find out more about Intelligent Money at www.intelligentmoney.com and ask Julian and his team questions directly on the finance forum at www.pistonheads.com. Full information on the Intelligent Money British GT Championship can be found at www.britishgt.com and we will keep you updated with the cars in the new ‘Spider’ movie with exclusive behind the scenes access when filming commences.