Many planners were hit hard by the global financial crisis, and Raymond Pecotic was no different.
Pecotic was a few years into his Empire Financial Group venture in Perth at the time, but like many planners, he was blindsided by the investment wipeout.
Still, it turned out to be a positive experience in some respects for Pecotic, who says he had an epiphany during the crisis about the kind of planner he wanted to be.
“I realised that there were lots of things I could control: who I employ, our customer service, the education standards of our staff, and so on,” he says. “But one thing I cannot control is the markets. Up until that time, I was heavily invested in markets and my fee structure was linked to the performance of my clients’ investments. I realised I needed to go from an investment focus to a more strategic planning outlook.”
Pecotic was lucky because he had been trading in investments for only a few years, and wasn’t as knee-deep as others.
“Had I been heavily investing in markets for 10 years, had I been running the business for that long, it could have had a much greater impact on me,” he says.
“As it was, I was still a relatively new business.”
The GFC also taught Pecotic about the importance of communication between advisers and clients.
“I called a client during the first few days and I remember explaining to him what was happening and he said to me, ‘You know this must be hard on you, too. You’re the only adviser who has taken the time to call me’,” Pecotic says. “During that time, a lot of advisers went underground, and to be fair I think a few suffered mental health issues as a result of the crisis.”
In the wake of the GFC, Pecotic moved to a fee-based structure, and has become a big advocate of greater professionalism and transparency within the industry.
When he started in the industry, he was an ambitious 19-year-old, still studying at university, while juggling clients on the side.
“It was mainly transactional financial planning that I was doing, but all I needed at that age was to sit an exam for the Life Insurance Code of Practice,” he says. “There was no requirement to do a diploma of financial planning. I can now understand why there is such a push for higher education standards within the industry.”
In fact, Pecotic believes the current legislation does not go far enough. Instead of introducing obligatory degree requirements, he thinks the industry should be more specific.
“I think graduates who wish to work in planning should have a degree in commerce with a major in financial planning,” he says. “It shouldn’t be enough just to have a broad commerce degree. This way, you would eliminate the guys who are in it to just make a quick buck.”
Pecotic thinks planners need to go to great lengths to create a favourable impression of the industry.
And this goes right down to the way they dress.
“At a time when a lot of the business world has gone towards more casual dressing, we have gone in the opposite direction,” he says. “We ensure that we still wear jackets and the men still wear ties when we are meeting clients. I think it is extremely important that we increase the professionalism of the industry and we need to portray ourselves in that way.”
| Raymond Pecotic
Name of firm: Empire Financial Group Name of licensee: Securitor Time in the industry: 19 years Academic qualifications: Bachelor of commerce, advanced diploma in financial services Professional association memberships: Financial Planning Association Other memberships: Most Trusted Adviser, WA delegate to Securitor National Advisory Council |
Name of firm: Empire Financial Group
Name of licensee: Securitor
Time in the industry: 19 years
Academic qualifications: Bachelor of commerce, advanced diploma in financial services
Professional association memberships: Financial Planning Association
Other memberships: Most Trusted Adviser, WA delegate to Securitor National Advisory Council
