Having grown from a community hosted on social media to a purpose-led social media community, XY Adviser has been invited to cover the company’s evolution for some of the biggest players in Silicon Valley next week.
XY Adviser head of community Emily Blanch will head over to San Francisco, USA to speak at the CMX Summit 2022 about the strategies and ideas implemented by XY.
CMX gives community builders around the globe to network and share ideas and she will join speakers from Microsoft, Reddit and Atlassian, amongst others.
Reflecting on the journey of XY, Blanch tells Professional Planner how the community grew from a social media network into a purpose-driven company.
“XY really started out as a hobby and a way for younger advisers and those looking to make a start and improve their career to improve quicker and leverage the experience of others in the industry,” says Blanch.
The network was founded in 2014 by Clayton Daniel, Ben Nash, Ray Jaramis and Adrian Patty, starting with an online blog and community presence on Facebook and LinkedIn.
“We became a purpose-driven company when we realised when the gap really needed to be filled in terms of creating an environment and space for advisers to come together and collaborate,” Blanch says.
Global aspirations
The firm will change its name from XY Adviser with an announcement expected in the imminent future.
The XY Adviser name was established to connect the learning experiences of advisers from generation X and Y.
Daniel previously told Professional Planner the catalyst for the change was two-fold – partly due to potential trademark clashes in the US, but also that it didn’t really reflect what the network has become.
“It’s sort of a no-name name,” he said in June. “The sort of name you put in place in a holding position for a company. That was totally fine when we were a hobby, but now we’re pretty clear on what we do so it’s time to adopt a new name which we can defend globally.”
Blanch says they’ve already found success with the early stage of their global expansion plans.
“We’re seeing that replicating already in South Africa and soon to be in the UK. What we’re solving isn’t just limited to Australian advice.
“There’s country specific regulations, but what we’re working towards is universal in nature and there’s no reason it can’t work at a global scale.”
Other advice markets around the globe have enough similarities that the conversations are similar, she says.
A strange journey
Blanch started out in advice as a CSO and paraplanner, on the trajectory towards becoming an adviser. But after travelling overseas she pivoted into digital marketing where she later connected with Daniel.
After that they kept in touch and continued to work on projects together.
“He introduced me to XY at its very embryonic stage,” Blanch says. “I realised I had been exposed to this world of collaboration within advice because my experience with advice had been very traditional.”
For Blanch, her professional journey has been unique but ultimately fit a confluence of her own ambitions.
“When I was exposed with what was happening in this tiny little Facebook group it was everything I love about an industry I am super passionate about.”
