When Ben Hancock reached what turned out to be the apogee of his punk rock career in Brisbane, he took a good look around him.
Punk rock music was not exactly a growth industry, and while he loved playing in his garage band – with the occasional “proper” gig helping to keep him afloat – the writing was clearly on the wall.
“I saw musicians who were a lot more talented than me struggling to make even the most modest of incomes,” he says.
“It was obvious I needed a career.”
So Hancock, not long out of school, applied for a job with the Queensland public service. After successfully sitting their entrance exam, he took up a post in administration. Eventually, he was transferred to Treasury, where he worked as an investment consultant with the Government Superannuation Office.
“It introduced me to financial matters and the importance of planning for retirement, which was quite fascinating,” he says.
“So I gained an interest in planning through that institutional exposure.”
But ultimately, Hancock grew tired of the public service and, after six years, he threw in the towel.
“I reached the point where I couldn’t see myself doing that job for the next 30 or 40 years,” he says.
“Treasury was one of the more progressive departments, but there was still a lack of energy and a lot of people were there because it was a job for life.
“It wasn’t dynamic.”
Fostering careers of other advisers
Hancock, however, had developed a keen interest in planning and joined a small firm in suburban Brisbane as one of their advisers.
“It was quite embryonic at that stage and the principal who hired me was essentially a one-man band,” he says.
“We shared premises with another firm run by the principal’s brother and we decided to partner up.”
Hancock led the charge in applying for a AFSL application with the other firm and, two years later in 2006, Stonehouse Financial Services came into being.
Hancock was quickly promoted to partner.
“We started off with four advisers and have now grown to 15, with two specialist credit advisers across Brisbane, Sydney and the Gold Coast,” he says.
Hancock was recently appointed to Griffith University’s Accounting, Finance and Economics Advisory Board and has sourced quite a few graduate planners from the university.
“I think there is at least one planner who was an inaugural graduate of the Griffith program,” he says.
“I now have a mature group of clients, so my focus is in fostering the careers of other advisers as my own was generously fostered by others.”
A more sedate punk rocker
He is particularly proud of his high-retention rate and has so far sponsored six CFPs during his career.
“We’re not interested in developing (Stonehouse) as a dealer group appointing remote and disassociated authorised reps in what is the lowest-value part of the financial planning value chain,” he says.
All of his advisers are encouraged to buy into the team – either through partnership or an equity stake.
“I’m surprised so many advisers are happy to just remain employees,” he says.
The punk rocker within Hancock hasn’t disappeared entirely either – it just express itself in much more sedate ways these days.
He serves on the board of QMusic – a not-for-profit organisation that fosters the development of artists in Queensland and throughout the country.
“It’s funny, I think maybe only one or two people actually know of my punk rock past,” Hancock says.
“They think I am the straight-laced suit among them; the numbers guy.”
Planner ProfileBen Hancock Name of firm Stonehouse Financial Services Years in the industry: 18 years; previously with Queensland Treasury prior to starting in financial planning. Academic qualifications: Master of Financial Planning, with additional post-graduate studies in business, accounting and economics. Professional association memberships: Fellow of the FPA (FFPA), Fellow of Finsia (FFin), GAICD. Stonehouse Group is a member of the Boutique Financial Planners group. |
