Is there anything you do differently at Thera?
Dragoumis said as a firm you do not necessarily have to be different but you have to be very good at what you do.
“What makes a good firm first and foremost has to be the client and the planning process," he explained.
“After we create the plan we see if these goals are achievable, we implement the plan and put the investments in place.
“That is the way we do it. It is not the investment first, it is the plan first and the investment last."
He explained the process was then about being there for clients when time are tough. Such as when markets are difficult, when there are tax changes or when there are difficult things in their lives like divorce, children growing up and estate planning.
“It is about helping them identify their goals and whether they have thought about retirement.
“Once you know what the plan is you know how much return a client needs to make it work. Then you go to the investment side.”
What are your predictions for the coming years?
While demand for advice remains, the question is whether there will be enough advisers to handle this demand, Dragoumis said.
“There are a lot of people coming into retirement and defined benefit pensions are falling away.
“For me, I don’t think fees will go down anytime soon. It is a high touch process and advisers can only deal with a limited number of people.
“If you’re seeing 5,000 clients you are not advising them.
“Over the next five years the industry will be more planning-led and client focussed. The old style is going to fade away, that is only a good thing.”
What would be your advice for someone wanting to go it solo?
“It is going to be difficult building your own business for the first two or three years. Be prepared to have to finance yourself for a bit. You can cut your teeth in a big firm then move on.
“I had a good network I could leverage but it was still difficult to get going.
“I do strongly recommend it though. Ultimately, I think clients appreciate working with an adviser who owns their own business.
“They know you're going to be around and they can depend on you and you can depend on them.
“It is a two-way relationship which is very strong, which I don’t think exists in an employee relationship.”
If you own your own advice firm and would like to feature in the Coffee Corner interview series, get in touch at tara.o’connor@ft.com.
