People

The Inside Network’s Jamie Nemtsas sits down with award-winning financial adviser Hugh Robertson to discuss how to build ‘centres of influence’ that can help take an advice business to the next level.

Ian was a mentor to many financial advisers, and I was one of them. He offered guidance, wisdom and an unwavering commitment to ethical practice. Long after he is gone, Ian’s influence will be felt.

Just how thin the line that Berry walks becomes clear when he outlines the two paradoxical objectives of the CSLR. He has to highlight the worst in financial advice, while making it seem better and more trustworthy in the eyes of the public.

“Some kids read cartoons,” the equities manager recalls, “and some read the sports section, but I used to read the stock market tables and try to figure out what was going up and what was going down.”

After witnessing the horror of the GFC, a young Leesa Swain decided to help mitigate the ‘ripple effect’ of bad financial management and start a journey in financial planning that has led her to a new, digitally led solution provider.

“We’re all humans trying to make a fist of it,” says Muirfield Financial Services adviser Matt Torney. “And sure, finances matter, but people and relationships matter more.”

Sick of being locked out of large scale private equity investments, the group put together their own project in 2013. Forty projects and some outsized returns later, they’ve only recorded one that didn’t reach its targeted internal rate of return.

It was a long and winding road that took Mark Folpp from accounting to broking, funds management and ultimately financial advice. He still gets to channel his “inner fund manager”, but the context is a whole lot different this time.

After witnessing the evolution of the US advice market, David Leon knew his Australian clients would want product and advice to be separate. It’s why the Adelaide adviser was so surprised the Hayne Royal Commission took so long to come about.

Rob da Silva didn’t plan a career in research, but a confluence of events led to an early career switch away from pure funds management. The research sector has its challenges, which the now-veteran researcher calls “frustrating”, but it also holds real pockets of opportunity for new players to add value for advisers.

Over his 28 years as an adviser, Growden has learned a lot about investing: his mantra now is “stick to what you know”. His best investment, he says, was buying equity in what became Shadforth 25 years ago, while his worst came from moving outside rule number one.

The decision to build an academy for advisers wasn’t taken lightly, says Link Wealth founder Steve Sloane. But the strategy is paying dividends, with some of the best young advice talent in the country coming through its ranks.