Not many 25 year olds are confident enough to start their own financial planning business.
Even fewer would dare name it after themselves, which is exactly what Adrian Patty did four years ago, when he started his AP Financial Solutions.
“Using my initials in my business name was a moment of self-indulgence,” Patty says with a laugh.
“There is an 18-month honeymoon and then it gets annoying. Most people, though, don’t associate the business name with my name so that is OK.”
Patty has rarely done things by the book.
When he was 15 his grandfather convinced Patty’s dad to gift him a handful of Telstra shares in a managed fund under trust, so he could learn about the stock market.
“I was working part-time at Hoyts and I was putting extra money into a managed fund,” he says.
At 18 he opened a shares trading account.
“My personal risk profile is quite extreme, so I loved it,” he says.
“In hindsight, it was an excellent way of learning, but at the time I saw it just as a way of making money.”
He kept playing the stock market – sometimes making money, sometimes losing it – throughout his Bachelor of Social Science degree at the University of New South Wales.
Upon graduation, Patty worked as a client service officer with Genesys Wealth Advisers, in investment lending with Macquarie Bank and as a client services manager with OneVue.
Savings and stock market fund world adventure
He quit OneVue to travel the world, not because he didn’t like the job, but because he was young, single and with very few commitments.
“I figured I had lots of time to work and I should try and travel while I could,” he says.
In 2010, Patty took off to see the world, using a combination of savings and his stock market trading to fund two years on the road in Canada, central and South America and Africa.
He taught himself Spanish, and explored remote parts of the world.
“I would not have been happy just chilling on a beach somewhere,” Patty says.
“And even though I was travelling, I still considered that time as an investment in myself, in my human capital.
“I was travelling in developing countries a lot of the time and that allowed an altruistic side of myself to emerge.”
When he returned to Sydney, Patty realised he needed to work with people.
“I am an extrovert, I get energised by people, so that is how I came across planning,” he says.
“But it was rare to find a company that would let you deal with clients straight away, which was what I was after.”
Helping young up-and-comers
Patty joined the AMP Horizons program, which offered 18 months of intensive training, alongside client interaction.
When he graduated, he formed AP Financial Solutions, which he has successfully run for the past four years, bringing in a handful of young advisers to help him.
He is also the director of Spark Professional, which provides practically trained staff for the financial services industry, and co-founded XY Adviser to promote the sharing of knowledge among young advisers.
“Some of the best advice I have ever received has come from talking to like-minded peers,” Patty says.
With a significant load on his plate, Patty is still keen to help young up-and-comers find their way.
“I have been on the side of people looking for work and I know what it’s like to work under other people,” Patty says.
“I have empathy with people who are trying to start their own business or even helping young advisers find their way.”
Planner profileAdrian Patty Name of firm: AP Financial Solutions Name of licensee: AMP Financial Planning Years in the industry: Nine Academic qualifications: DFP, Cert IV in mortgage broking, Bachelor of Social Science, Masters of Applied Finance (Financial Planning), CFP1-4 Professional association memberships: AFA, FPS, AMPFPA |
