Shane Black spent six years as a detective with the NSW police, which included a long stint in the tough child protection squad.
Locking up the worst of the worst had its personal rewards but after a while Black started to wonder if there was another way he could contribute to society.
“It was one thing to help society by locking up bad guys, but I got sick of dealing with scumbags, to be honest,” he says. “It’s a lot more energising to see what is possible for people; whereas with the cops, it’s hard to get excited about helping people when you’re locking people up, because there is still such a negativity about it all.”
Black had always been interested in investing – he was buying and selling shares even while on the force – and financial planning seemed like a great place to exercise his detective skills.
“You need to be able to build a relationship with people and drive the conversation in such a way that you can get to the bottom of things,” Black says, when asked to describe what makes a great detective.
“There is not a single conversation I‘ve had with a client that has been tougher than the ones I have had while on the police force. So all these habits have been ingrained in me, and now to have a tough conversation with someone as a planner is a piece of cake.
“I know how to talk to someone to elicit information and see when there is something deeper than what they’re saying.”
There is more than a touch of sleuth in uncovering clients’ dreams and ambitions, Black says, adding that many people can struggle to say what they feel.
“Clients can say one thing but you can sense when there is some deeper meaning,” he says. “So you learn how to home in and how to prod them in the right way to get to the bottom of what [their] feelings and values are.”
Black worked for many years as a financial adviser with the banks, but it was only when he formed Pearl Finance Group in January 2016 – with wife Hong Black running the mortgage division – that he felt he could truly help clients.
He and Hong work mainly with Gen Y clients, helping them set up healthy spending and savings patterns and articulate what they want from life – no matter how grand or ambitious.
“We have this reluctance to think big in Australia because people worry that someone may chop them down in the Tall Poppy fashion,” he says. “In my office, I tell people they have permission to be themselves and think big.
“There is no judgment in this room, don’t hold anything back, tell me what you want to achieve, because that is what is going to drive you in life.”
Some people may worry about looking selfish chasing financial independence; the irony is a healthy bottom line allows people to think beyond of themselves.
“If you don’t think big, or look after yourself, then you can’t make an impact on someone else’s life,” Black says. “When you’re financially better off, you’re able to influence and have an impact on not only your immediate circle but potentially people you have never met.
“You can affect other people’s lives, by example, just by following your dreams.”
It’s something Black has done himself, and he has no regrets about leaving detective work for another kind of career (that is no less investigatory in its nature).
“A client came and saw me three years ago and he had this dream of buying a hobby farm with his family, but they thought they could never do it,” Black says.
“A few things fell in their favour, too, but they ended up settling on that small farm in May, and they sent me a picture of their back paddock at sunset recently and said, ‘Thanks for making our dream come true.’
“And that is why I do what I do.”
| Name of firm: Pearl Wealth
Name of licensee (if not self-licensed): Meritum Time in the industry (previous jobs?): Six years, previously a detective in NSW Police. Academic qualifications: Master of financial planning; MBA; master of applied finance, bachelor of policing Professional association memberships: Association of Financial Advisers Other memberships: B1G1 Business for Good lifetime partner |
