Money Talks: James Wallis, Aristotle FP
Increasing regulatory compliance and rising back-office costs have prompted many financial advisers to take a greater look at the way in which they run their advisory business. As a result of these increases, we have seen a dramatic surge in advice firms of all sizes approaching and joining the ASHL Group networks.
How long have you been in the financial services industry, and what initially drew you to this profession?
I joined the industry in 2010, having undertaken a Masters in Finance before that. The combination of finance/numbers and dealing with people is what appealed to me initially.
Reflecting on your experience, what significant changes have you observed in the industry since you began your career?
The big one for me would be the industry becoming more professional as the years have gone by. Some of this has been due to regulatory changes and pressure and some by new entrants to the industry, but I would consider this to be a big positive.
If you could go back and advise your younger self when starting out in this field, what key piece of advice would you offer?
Simplify, simplify, simplify! The use of jargon and terms in our industry is everywhere, and being someone who is quite technical I would definitely say that I used it more than I should have in the early years. The use of plain English is massively underrated.
What strategies or approaches do you find most effective in building strong, long-term relationships with clients?
Taking the time to understand the person and not just their finances on an ongoing basis (rather than just initially), being my authentic self rather than the expected image/perception and being genuinely curious and interested in people.
In your opinion, what are the most pressing challenges facing financial advisers today, and how do you navigate them in your practice?
From the advisers that I speak with, it tends to be capacity and workload issues. There are only a limited number of total clients’ advisers can work with and maintain standards and the lifestyle that they want, and in particular onboarding which can be time consuming. For me, I try to deal with this by being conscious about who I choose to work with on an ongoing basis, limit the number of new clients at any one time and try to keep processes as efficient as realistically possible.
Can you share a particularly memorable success story or client interaction that reaffirmed your commitment to this profession?
In this industry we are so blessed that we get to experience great moments whereby through financial planning, people can make big lifestyle changes such as retirement or giving people hope or reassurance in unfortunate times such as changes of jobs or loss of loved ones. Some of the most fulfilling ones are when clients are unexpectedly able to retire from work either immediately or much sooner than expected – the smile and feeling of relief/happiness are hard to describe.
With the rise of digital tools and platforms, how do you integrate technology into your advisory services?
With difficulty. By nature, I would confess to be a bit of a magpie and so I have to make myself try not to get carried away with every piece of technology. In general, I would try to review things annually rather than constantly, with the aim to try to consider how things fit into our preferred process and integrating with the essentials tools that we require day to day (such as back office).
What do you see as the key issue on the horizon for the industry?
In a nutshell, the transfer of wealth. But I see this from two different angles – firstly in terms of high levels of wealth passing between generations and dealing with that, but also in terms of advisers existing the industry and despite great efforts from all sorts of different avenues that there doesn’t seem to be enough new advisers coming through to meet that future demand.
How will you leave your mark? (Either professionally or personally)
From a professional perspective I want to help as many people as possible achieve and maintain financial independence whilst living the lifestyle that they aspire to. I don’t have grand plans to build a national firm, but rather a high-quality local boutique type firm delivering great work is what I would like my business to be known for.
From a personal perspective I want to be someone who genuinely helps their local community, both through my business but also my support and actions. I also have three young girls and if I can help bring them up to be well-rounded individuals with a helpful and entrepreneurial mindset, that would be great.
And we end on perhaps the most important question…
What's your go-to Karaoke song?
The Libertines - Don't look back into the sun.
#LeaveYourMark
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