On the job experience is key for advisers to hone their skills, said Johnnie Hampel, founder of Y Tree, who moved into the financial services in 1999 after starting off working as a lawyer.
Y Tree’s founder told FT Adviser’s Coffee Corner what he thinks are the most important things about being a financial adviser.
Hampel said after 26 interviews he landed a job at Goldman Sachs where he honed his skills of working with wealthy families.
He eventually was one of the early partners of Partners Capital where he worked for 14 years.
Along with Arik Peretz and Stuart Cash, Hampel started setting up Y Tree in 2017 with the business taking on its first clients in 2019.
What were your experiences in your early career in financial services?
“[My job at Goldman Sachs] was more of a sort of salesman's job selling whatever Goldman Sachs had to sell. I wasn't good at that and I didn't enjoy it that much,” said Hampel.
“And so I looked around, I was introduced by a headhunter to the senior partner of Bain and Company, the management consulting firm."
What pushed you into setting up your own firm?
“I had taken some time out for personal reasons.
“I was at this stage in my late 40s and many of my peers were getting very senior in that whatever industry they worked in and I asked each person what's your experience with the wealth management industry.
“Most people said, ‘Johnnie, I don't have time to deal with my personal finances because I work too hard, I generally just hand my money to a brand who does something with it, I'm not sure what the right fee should be or what good looks like’.
“That’s when I thought, maybe there’s something that I can look at potentially to change.”
What are the biggest challenges facing the advice industry?
“I think one of the biggest problems which most consumers face is transparency.
“When you go to a restaurant, you know exactly what you're eating but when you have investment products, you have no idea.
“With sales jargon you don't know what's in them or how good they are, in many cases.”
How do you think the industry can be improved?
“One of the most important things we need to get better at in the industry is the connection between money and life, because historically, it's just all about money, selling, performance.
“Most people wonder, why have I got money and why is it important for my life?
“You can only ever begin to start with the management side when you understand the purpose of the assets in one's life.
“If you could bring it more towards life, then people can understand why you're doing things as opposed to just managing money.”
What would be your advice for someone starting out as an adviser?
“If there's one thing I can highlight, it's understanding what you don't know and not being too embarrassed about your fragility and just expressing that you don't know and want to learn.
“People never know as much as they pretend they do, so it's really about understanding what you don't know and what you do know.
