When Michael Abrahamsson was starting out in the industry 13 years ago, he was shocked by the lack of rigorous study needed to become a financial planner.
“I was gobsmacked that you could become a planner in a matter of weeks or months,” Abrahamsson says. “You are dealing with clients’ life savings, and I think that warrants a certain level of experience and qualification.”
Abrahamsson took the long road, even when he wasn’t technically required to do so, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in business and commerce, and a graduate diploma of applied finance (financial planning).
“I was working in a firm and learning on the ground during the day and studying at night, and I think that was a good combination,” he says. “It took me longer than others, but I think in the end it has put me in a better position to help clients.”
Indeed, Abrahamsson is a passionate advocate of higher education for planners and is wholly supportive of the new mandatory education requirements.
He is also an assessor with the CFP education program — ensuring exams and tests remain relevant to industry practice — and sees a lot of great talent coming through the ranks.
“I’m extremely optimistic about the future of the industry and in the last decade we have seen a real improvement from what were some questionable practices in the past,” he says. “There are some great businesses out there that are putting their clients’ interests first and they know their clients intimately.
“That has been a big development in the industry: finding out what your clients’ dreams and ambitions are and moving away from the cookie-cutter planning model.”
Planners need to be students of human behaviour, too — interested in what motivates (or terrifies) some people and not others, Abrahamsson notes.
“These days, planners are really side by side with their clients, and dealing with everything from tax to super to the global financial crisis,” he says. “Psychology is playing an increasing role in what we do.”
Abrahamsson says education standards are as important to discerning clients as they are to professional planners.
“Clients are savvy these days and they’re less inclined to go for the in-house product at the bank,” he says. “They will often make a point of liking the fact that we have strong academic qualifications, that this was what drew them to our business.”
Abrahamsson started his firm, Flinders Wealth, with business partner Nick Jackson in 2011.
The two ended up working together for five years after they applied for the same job.
“In the end, the boss hired both of us because we had different but complementary skills,” he says. “That job turned out to be a great mentorship for both of us. I remember on my first day I was given a book to read on economic history, and I had never experienced that before.
“The first few years, I was taught over and over again about managing risk, it was almost branded onto us. The firm took a kind of Warren Buffett approach, whereby if you take care of the downsides then the upsides will look after themselves. And that has stuck with me to this day.”
Abrahamsson says forming a partnership has been helpful for the business, which mainly looks after motivated professionals and lifestyle retirees.
“I think starting a business with someone else who is compatible is a great model,” he says. “Clients know they’re getting two [pairs of] eyes across everything, and if I am away then Nick can step in, and vice versa.”
| Michael Abrahamsson
Name of firm: Flinders Wealth Time in the industry (previous jobs?): 13 years, including time as a trading team co-ordinator, paraplanner and financial planner Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in business and commerce; graduate diploma of applied finance (financial planning) Accreditations: CFP Professional association memberships: Financial Planning Association of Australia. Other memberships: Listed on the Top Ten Financial Planners Melbourne website and assessor for CFP applied strategies subject |
