Question 1

I'm not a millennial, will you work with me?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Whilst I predominately work with "millennials" I work with some customers that might be further along their wealth journey and maybe approaching or in retirement.

Question 2

Do you work with interstate and overseas customers?

Accepted Answer

Interstate, definitely. Overseas, maybe. Depending on your circumstances it might be required that you work with a professional with really specific expertise or even an adviser in the country you're residing in.

Question 3

What are your qualifications and experience?

Accepted Answer

I have a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) that I completed at the University of Newcastle in 2013 and a Master of Financial Services that I completed at the University of New England in 2015.
 
I started working at an accounting firm in Gosford (NSW Central Coast)  in my final year of uni in 2013. Here I worked on the financial services side of the business and learned a lot whilst working predominately with retirees on their investment and super needs (often with Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSF)) and some younger wealth accumulators, often where a business was involved and there were borrowing needs.
 
In 2016 with encouragement from my girlfriend Amy to move to Sydney, I started working at a pure financial advice business in the CBD, researching strategies and products. There I worked with a broader range of clients with less of a business and SMSF focus and more of an employee focus with a lot of superannuation contribution and product strategies and a greater focus on insurance.
 
In 2017 I followed my passion for independence and started working at an independent advice business in Brookvale who was one of the first advisers in Sydney to specialise in working with wealth accumulators (generally high-income earners) in an independent, fixed-fee way. Here I worked predominately with wealth accumulators on their goals around property and wealth building for the future.
 
In late 2017 the firm merged with another, more established private wealth manager in Mosman who specialise in managing the often significant wealth of their clients with a holistic approach but investment specialty. The firm is amazing and loved working there with the awesome people as I helped the previous firm and their client's transition across but a desire to work with some younger customers led me to start my own business in early 2019.

Question 4

How do I get paid?

Accepted Answer

I only get paid by my customers where all fees are fixed and agreed upon before any commitment.

Question 5

What will it cost me?

Accepted Answer

See options. If there's an unusual situation requiring an unusual service I will let you know beforehand of any cost if there's value in us working together.

Question 6

What other expenses might there be?

Accepted Answer

There are generally fees associated with required products that are paid to whatever product provider is appropriate and this has no connection to me.
 
If there's a requirement for insurance that's not available directly I charge $1,500 to organise the policy where I tell the insurer I don't want any commission (resulting in a cheaper premium). Alternatively, you can go directly to an insurance broker or financial adviser who can organise, generally on a commission basis.

Question 7

Do you implement my strategy for me?

Accepted Answer

Generally not. I prefer to recommend strategies and products that can be implemented directly and provide guidance.
 
If a retail insurance product is appropriate I can help you implement it if it makes financial sense and you would like me to.

Question 8

Do you work with customers on an ongoing basis?

Accepted Answer

I aim to have ongoing relationships with my customers when they have another advice need but my business doesn't centre around ongoing advice.

Question 9

How do I know you're acting in my best interests?

Accepted Answer

I've been very conscious in the set-up of my business and my service options to give my customers as much confidence as possible that I'm acting in their best interests.
 
The best additional assurance I can give is that I get paid the same by my customers regardless of my advice or products so not acting in your best interests would be against my interests as my business relies on providing great outcomes with the hope of referrals.

Question 10

Do you have any conflicts of interests?

Accepted Answer

If you go to the dentist, you get charged more if they recommend you need a filling and do the work and similarly I have this conflict that I only get paid if I provide advice.

Question 11

Do you have any biases?

Accepted Answer

I have a bias towards options that are available to the public directly.
 
I have a bias to take on as little risk as you need to to achieve your goals.
 
I have a bias towards diversified, low-cost investment options which often leads me to index Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's) and non-bank super funds.
 
I have a bias to be cynical about your options, especially when being sold rather than bought e.g. rural off-the-plan investment properties. 
 
I have a bias for data and generally don't believe something unless I'm confident in the data source and have analysed it myself.

Question 12

How do I know your advice is my best option?

Accepted Answer

There are often several "best" options which I will propose and discuss the pros and cons to helps us decide what the "best" option is for you with all available information.

Question 13

Do you invest my money and where is it held?

Accepted Answer

I generally don't invest your money rather I advise you how to invest it. As such, your money will be held directly with the external product provider, whoever the appropriate option is.
 
These are generally very large institutions you may already be familiar with.
 
NEVER transfer your investment funds to a financial adviser to invest. In almost every possible scenario there should be a large institution between your investment funds and your financial adviser, even if they are actively providing investment advice.

Question 14

How are you different to other financial advisers?

Accepted Answer

I'm young, I don't rely on ongoing investment management fees and I'm independent.

Question 15

How do you communicate with your customers?

Accepted Answer

Phone, Zoom, email, text, slack, WhatsApp, Signal and often a program called samepage.

Question 16

How do you collect my information?

Accepted Answer

I will provide you with a form where you will answer several questions and upload any relevant documents as well as inviting you to a shared Google Drive. Any additional information will be collected in our communications.

Question 17

How do I know my data is safe?

Accepted Answer

I don't collect data I don't need. For data required to be collected and stored, I use Google Drive for my cloud storage, Boxcryptor when additional security is requested and Microsoft BitLocker for my physical drive. I use Zoho Forms for my data collection, Zoho for my database and often Google Docs/Sheets or Microsoft Word/Excel. I've specifically chosen all of the tools I use with security and encryption in mind and avoid sending anything sensitive over emails whenever possible.

Question 18

What's your investment philosophy?

Accepted Answer

Looking at your situation holistically. Considering after-tax investment returns. Diversification. Low fees. Considering the end goal and exit strategy. Investment ownership as direct as possible. Property makes sense in a lot of situations, especially when balancing the lifestyle and sometimes tax benefits.

Question 19

Who works in your business?

Accepted Answer

Just me at the moment :)

Question 20

How old are you?

Accepted Answer

I'm 30. Birth certificate available on request ;)

Question 21

Where do you live?

Accepted Answer

I live in Millers Point near Sydney and generally spend 1 or 2 days a week in Newcastle or the Central Coast.

Question 22

Do you have an investment minimum?

Accepted Answer

No. Sometimes however the amount might not make sense and I will be upfront if I don't think you'll get good value e.g. an $1,800 fee for advice on $2,000 to be invested might not make sense right now.

Question 23

I have a lot of money to invest, will you work with me and will it cost me extra?

Accepted Answer

If I believe I have the experience for your situation and can add value, of course. The financial advice industry is very good at confusing large sums of money with complexity and higher fees, often unjustifiably in my opinion, so fees won't necessarily be higher as a result.

Question 24

What services do you provide and not provide?

Accepted Answer

My core business is financial advice around the areas of: cash-flow, investing, superannuation, debt, property, personal insurances, tax and estate planning.
 
My offering can best be compared to a GP in that I cover a broad range of areas and openly aren't a specialist in all. I'd hope my GP can broadly diagnose a knee issue but equally hope they don't perform the surgery. 
 
Such specialists often required (as I don't provide the services): mortgage broking, legal services, age care advice, complex tax advice, tax returns, property buyers agents and budgeting coaches among others in rarer cases.

Question 25

Do you advise on direct shares?

Accepted Answer

I can but generally don't as there are almost always better options. In the case you already own direct shares e.g. IAG, AMP, Telstra, employer shares etc., I will advise on the pros and cons of keeping after considering the taxes, transaction costs and alternatives.

Question 26

Do you advise on property purchases?

Accepted Answer

I run the numbers on possible property purchases of my customers and appropriate structuring however do not advise to buy specific properties. If you're not confident in purchasing a home or investment property, I can help you find a suitable buyers agent and discuss the pros and cons (generally cost) of doing so.

Question 27

Do you do tax returns?

Accepted Answer

No. That's the specialty of a tax agent. I'm registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) as a Tax (Financial) Adviser however this recognition rightfully doesn't give me the ability to submit tax returns for my customers.

Question 28

Do you implement life insurance etc.?

Accepted Answer

I can and have access to all insurers however only do so if these products are appropriate and it makes financial sense for me to do so for $1,500 (and get the premium discount) vs not paying $1,500 and not getting the ongoing discount.

Question 29

Can you advise on margin loans?

Accepted Answer

No. I specifically didn't tick the box when applying for the Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) I share with another adviser as can't envision many scenarios where such a risky product makes sense vs alternatives.

Question 30

Why are you a financial adviser?

Accepted Answer

Because I was never very good a tennis or cricket. And...
 
I've always loved numbers, got mesmerised by compound interest in year 9 maths and my dad could have made better financial decisions to take advantage of his financial situation when I was growing up so love the idea of helping my customers make decisions he would have liked to have made with the benefit of hindsight.

Frequently asked questions