Q: What did you do prior to coming to Edward Jones?
A: I was with Barclay’s for 12 years. My last role was head of operations in Africa, so I was flying out to Africa on a regular basis. It was very exciting, very interesting, but after a while, travel just begins to pale in significance, and I was also travelling to London regularly. So I just started looking around, wanting to run my own business and just take a little bit more control, as well. I really just fell across Edward Jones. Q: What was so appealing about Edward Jones?
A: Edward Jones was appealing to me because I really learned that I could perhaps just run a business and take control. For a lot of time in the bank, I was thinking, I’m working really hard and taking a professional view of this role, and yet, am I being compensated in the way that perhaps I ought to be? Edward Jones seemed to offer a situation where if you put the work in, you will get the rewards – and if you don’t put the work in, you won’t. It really just gives that vision of control. Q: What is this experience like compared to your last one?
A: In my last job, I got quite a lot of independence, but I seemed to be ruled by committee, which was kind of interesting, whereby I was senior enough to be running the job, but then I would have to report to a committee, which would then report to a committee. So, in terms of actually doing the job, it seemed to distract from what we were trying to do, because we would prepare documents and presentations for the various committees to basically prove that we needed to continue the job. The great thing about Edward Jones is it really feels like my own business. So if I say that my specialty is inheritance tax planning, I don’t have to justify that to anybody. Q: What was the reaction from your family when you said you were going to join Edward Jones?
A: They were supportive. I love finance and I just love the whole idea of investing and helping people with investments. So to have the ability to be able to sit down and to study with the support of Edward Jones was actually a great opportunity. And I tried to grasp it with both hands. Study-wise, it was quite a tough move to go from a high-powered professional job and back to study because there’s a huge pride thing there. I’m at a pretty senior level in my career and why should I go back to study. But when I realised I really was going out to start my own business from scratch, it really helped my own perspective. Q: Can you talk a little about the ongoing training at Edward Jones?
A: Sure. Continuing training is absolutely essential and necessary, and well-provided by Jones. So, you know, I’ve mentioned that the inheritance tax scenario has changed significantly in the past year, so we’ve had significant back-up on that, and I’ve had to do serious reading around to figure out the right way around to do the inheritance tax planning. Q: Did you have any reservations about taking on the Financial Adviser role at Edward Jones?
A: I did have reservations. I didn’t have specific sales experience, and even my financial experience was in dealing with lending money to very large corporations. But I had spent time with people who were running their own businesses, whether they were smaller businesses or even large businesses. And they seemed to get a real buzz out of life about the fact that they were in control. It was about just enjoying operating their own businesses. So I really quite wanted to do that. Also, the whole ethos of Edward Jones is to only sell what is appropriate to the client. To always do what’s right for the client. So from a very early stage, I realised just how much credibility you can gain by doing that. Q: What is your relationship like with your BOA?
A: The assistant in my office is Terry and she’s great. She really keeps me on an even keel. She basically does everything that doesn’t need a license to do, so she does all the administration and takes away all the paperwork from me, leaving me to actually talk to the clients. She’s also got a great way with the clients, because she’s so personable. She is the first person they meet, and the clients take great delight in telling me how much they love Terry and how great it is for them that she is so personable, and she really cares about them. The other good thing about Terry is really that she keeps me going, too, because I have the ups and the downs, and there’s times when I’m getting over-excited about how well we’re doing. And she’ll say, “Look, hold back, hold back. There will be problems and just, you know, get excited it, enjoy it, but just hold back a little bit.” There’ll be other times when I’ll be in the dumps, saying, “Oh, this has gone wrong.” She’ll just take it off me and say, “Look, I’ll sort it out and, you know, you get and talk to more clients, you’ve got more people that need help. Everything will be fine.” She’s a real rock to the office, and we run the office as partners. I don’t see her as my assistant – I see her as my partner. It’s really important to the business. Q: How is having an assistant here different than your previous job?
A: Yeah, in terms of the assistant I used to have in Barclay’s, it was pretty hit and miss, because I was travelling so much and my assistant was in the U.K., they just couldn’t support me, and I would have to do my own paperwork much of the time. Q: What tools do you use on a regular basis?
A: One is the Portfolio System. It really makes it very simple for clients to understand it all. It clearly shows them what they’ve got and where they need to address some issues. The second system that really helps is RetireCalc. There are just so many people out there who don’t understand how much money they’ve got, and how much money they can spend. And it just gives so much peace of mind to people to know how much they can spend, because perhaps previous to that, people were just not spending enough money or felt concerned about not spending enough money.
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