Brisbane-based financial planning practice My Wealth Solutions was co-founded to help more Australians be better prepared when tragedy strikes, says director Benjamin Budge.
This goal is underpinned by personal experience. His father passed away from a heart attack at 49 years of age. Business partner Guy Freeman had a similar experience, losing his father aged 44.
“We were both left with nothing, our mothers had to work two jobs. Our goal is to help more Australians to be more prepared than our fathers were,” Budge says.
My Wealth Solutions was established three years ago, when Budge linked up with Freeman, who had previously helped set up a boutique planning firm in the Brisbane suburb of Nundah.
Budge also won the 2014 Rising Star of the Year award at the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) conference in mid-October.
In light of their personal experiences, life insurance is a strong focus of the practice. This forms around 45 per cent of the business My Wealth Solutions writes, along with full service financial planning that also spans investments and superannuation.
Choosing a licensee
Establishing the practice just three years ago, Budge says they realised quite early the difficulty of building systems and procedures from scratch.
“We’d been trying to create all these client engagement tools, systems and procedures all by ourselves. When GPS showed us what they had, I think we made the decision in about a day.”
The decision to become an authorised representative of GPS Wealth was driven largely by the broad mix of engagement tools it offered, prompting them to switch from their first licensee after about six months.
GPS Wealth started out as an accounting business, growing to one of Australia’s top 30, before branching out into financial advice.
“They were two-and-a-half years old, so we took a bit of a punt on them too. I guess that was a bit of a risk for our business, but it’s probably been the best decision we’ve made so far,”
This suited the business and their client mix, who are predominantly wealth accumulators rather than those in the pre- or post-retiree stages.
Budge refers specifically to Pathway to Wealth, a client engagement tool for accumulators.
“Many people don’t understand strategy. This allows them to sit down and map out their goals, you can put them in their current situation, show them the gap, and then explain how they can close it.
“Our first meeting is pure strategy, where we’re just seeing what’s right for the client,” he adds.
Mentors
Budge says the guidance they receive from their licensee is also a big positive influence.
“The mentorship from people like Rob [McGregor] and Greg [Holman], who’ve been in the industry 20 to 25 years, that gives you confidence. If you’re having a problem with a strategy, or have a client you don’t know what to do with…they normally come back with a strategy or two you can implement.”
Sourcing clients
This is a commonly cited challenge among new financial planners. According to Budge, when My Wealth Solutions was starting out “we tried everything. The first year we were chasing our tails…we were knocking on clients’ doors, trying mortgage brokers.”
But he says the solution lies in focused activity, something both co-founders have committed to. “We decided we needed to put in two days per week each focusing on sourcing clients.”
Part of this approach involves regular fortnightly meetings with an accountant, who is also a client of the business along with a referral partner.
Marketing yourself
Budge also points to the online space as an important way to promote the practice to potential clients and business partners.
“We’re spending a bit of money on redoing our website, including adding personal videos, which we’re currently building.
“We’re not scared to try anything. If we see something working for someone else, we’ll say ‘let’s give it a go’”.
He freely admits it doesn’t always work, but they learn from the process and move on.
“It doesn’t always come off. We hired a marketing consultant around a year ago and didn’t get what we were promised, but we’re not afraid to try. It’s about making your referral partners understand what you do and how you do it.”
The co-founders of My Private Wealth also receive valuable input from their spouses, with both their wives holding marketing qualifications and working around 15 hours per week inside the practice.
Continual learning
Budge views ongoing education as particularly important.
“We have a rule – every three months you’ve got to be doing some more study,” Budge says.
He is currently working toward his mortgage broking certificate, while one of the office’s paraplanners is undertaking the advanced diploma of financial planning.
“I think it’s a necessity, even for the general community’s view of our industry.
“We get it all the time…clients come in and have that negative view from the start. Part of our process is building that trust,” Budge says.
“I see us heading in the direction of the accounting industry, where they’re the trusted source. Most of the people in our industry that are advisers are good people. A few of the rogue advisers have ruined it for the rest of us.”
