During 2019, before Covid turned the world upside down, FinCommunications head Linda Graham travelled extensively to speak to 13 of South Africa’s top financial planners.

The interviews were for a book project commissioned by a leading financial planner in Johannesburg. Her goal was to highlight the extraordinary personal and business journeys that each of these inspiring individuals had undertaken, thereby inspiring a new generation of financial planners.

Each story is unique, but Linda did notice a few similarities: ‘They all display absolute dedication to their clients and employ fair cost structures,’ she says. ‘And they’ve all struggled in one way or another.’

Three years down the track, we thought it would be fitting to look back at some of the lessons we learnt while writing a book.

  1. You can’t put a price on ethics

 This was a predominant theme. All financial planners interviewed regard their high ethical standards as the cornerstone of their business. The world is full of uncertainty, from the markets to the news, and ordinary people are unsure who they can trust. For the planners in the book, this is all the more reason to be utterly devoted to truth and integrity.

As Barry O’Mahony from Veritas Wealth says in his interview: ‘This whole industry is about trust.’

  1. Overcoming trauma builds character

Another key theme to emerge was how each successful planner had overcome adversity at some point in their life and career.

Craig Gradidge’s story is one of the most inspiring. The co-founder of Gradidge-Mahura Investments tells how he lost his father when he was young and grew up rough in a dangerous suburb of Durban. From delivering newspapers at the age of nine to starting his own business in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis, his journey is a lesson in staying positive, working hard and never giving up.

‘Despite how far we’ve come in South Africa, big challenges await, both on a macro-political level and in the financial industry,’ Craig says. ‘At the same time, there’s opportunity everywhere. You just have to open your eyes and look.’

  1. Your staff are your family

 Success is a team sport, and none of the financial advisors in the book got to where they are on their own. When Angela Saltas, director of Corporate Retirement Services, hired two young women to help with planning, she discovered they were better qualified than she was! She realised that she could learn as much from them as they could from her, and their partnership took her practice from strength to strength.

‘Empower your staff to support your business by making them feel integral to the system – because they are,’ Angela says.

  1. Never stop learning

Ongoing education is an antidote to stagnation. The planning profession is constantly changing: new technology is automating certain processes, the law is constantly in flux, marketing strategies have gone social and remote meetings have changed how client reviews are conducted.

When Kim decided to pivot her practice towards behavioural finance, she embarked on a journey to learn as much as she could. ‘I travelled overseas to do life-coaching courses and I evolved my business to provide behavioural counsel alongside financial planning. I also did (another!) Postgraduate Diploma – this time in Estate Planning. All of this has allowed me to see the big picture, and thereby provide the best advice I possibly can.’

  1. Collaboration is key

 You can’t guard your business like a fortress, and success is not a question of hanging onto each and every client. Sometimes a client might not be a great fit for your practice, or you know they’ll be better served elsewhere. In these instances, collaboration is key.

All of the planners interviewed are happy to refer clients to other planners – and have clients referred to them in return.

Drew Rydell from Ascent Wealth Management sums it up: ‘I always encourage fellow advisors to make friends with their peers. The advisors in this book are not competitors; they’re fellow experts who you can reach out to. If I have a client who doesn’t gel with me, I’ll refer him or her to a colleague. Every advisor has a different style, and every client has different expectations when it comes to investment advice.’

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