When Julia Schortinghuis left her job in HR to become a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch it was, in her words, like jumping out of a plane without a parachute.
“I will never forget the first day that I walked into the Perth office and it was like someone had dropped a whole stack of paper from a helicopter, and there was lots of energy,” she says.
“I was given a telephone, a screen and told to go for it.”
The year was 1998 and Schortinghuis was the only female stockbroker on the floor at that time, but she thrived on the pressure.
“I loved that intense environment and I teamed up with a couple of more experienced brokers who taught me a lot,” she says.
“It was also a wonderful entry into understanding investments and companies.”
But after two enjoyable years, she hankered for more. Schortinghuis wanted to get a more rounded picture of the economy and finance.
“I was aware that I was only advising on one element,” she says.
“And I wanted to take a more holistic approach.”
Planning ‘a great fit’
Schortinghuis moved into investment management at Merrill Lynch, where she expanded her realm of knowledge among “dynamic, intelligent and driven people”.
But in the back of her mind, she always knew she wanted to become a financial planner.
Before she took the job at Merrill Lynch, Schortinghuis had travelled to Uluru with her husband, Bernard Schortinghuis, for a planning conference.
“Bernard was already a planner and I sort of just gatecrashed all of the sessions at the conference,” she says.
“Over the course of three days, I realised how good a fit planning would be.”
After spending eight years with Merrill Lynch, Schortinghuis felt it was time to finally make the leap to join her husband’s business.
Bernard had already built up his own planning business, Lighthouse Capital, and Schortinghuis decided to come on board as his co-pilot.
The GFC hit not long after, but Schortinghuis says the experience made the business and her partnership with her husband even stronger.
“We set aside the issues we couldn’t control and we looked at what we could control and we left no stone unturned,” she says.
“Like anything in life, it is the tough times that you really learn from.”
Awards and inspiration
Schortinghuis has gone on to shine within the industry. She was awarded the Godfrey Pembroke Adviser of the Year recently, while Lighthouse Capital won the Premier Practice Award.
She is also the state chapter chair for Inspire in Western Australia, the AFA’s support network and community for women.
Schortinghuis would like to use her profile to encourage other women to enter the industry.
“We know that about 20 per cent of planners are women,” she says.
“And the thing is that women are very well-suited to planning. People think planning is just about dollars and cents, but it’s also about relationships, and women have a lot of the qualities needed to be a good planner, such as empathy and intuition.
“Yes, you also need technical skills, but women have a lot of relationship skills ideally suited to planning.”
Schortinghuis says the Inspire team in WA are considering giving talks in local schools to students to encourage them to consider planning as a career.
“I don’t think students realise that planning is even a career path, it’s not something they think of,” Schortinghuis says.
“But I love it because I love helping people. If people are financially secure, then that goes a long way to supporting their overall health and happiness.”
Planner ProfileJulia Schortinghuis Name of firm: Lighthouse Capital. Name of licensee (if not self-licensed): Godfrey Pembroke. Years in the industry: 22 years, including roles with NAB Graduate Program, BankWest, and Merrill Lynch. Academic qualifications: Bachelor of Commerce, Post Grad Dip Ed, Adv Dip Financial Planning, awaiting results for the CFP. Accreditations: AFA, AFP, CFP pending. Professional association memberships: Financial Planning Association, AFA. Other memberships: Board member – Godfrey Pembroke Advisory Board, State Chapter Chair for Inspire in WA. |
