The world of financial services has evolved over the past 10 years but it has left behind a lot of reputational damage, according to Victoria Nabarro, chartered financial planner at Veda Wealth.
Speaking to FTAdviser as part of our Coffee Corner series, Nabarro said some of the challenges of being a business owner is trying to rewrite the way advice is represented.
What would you say are the biggest challenges facing new business owners today?
“There's a lot of reputational damage from previous years that we've got to overcome,” she said.
“Understandably, there is a stigma around the term financial adviser for some people and abolishing that is a job in itself - that's a challenge.”
Nabarro explained another challenge is navigating this new world which differs from what advisers were taught.
“We learnt that these are the problems and these are the answers and now we have new problems and as far as I can see, there's no textbook that I can go to to find the answers,” she said.
“It's like we all have to find the answers ourselves and rebuild the system and that knowledge bank, which is changing all the time, so that's a challenge.”
She explained there's a real lack of mentorship across the industry for those just starting out.
“Starting any new business is a difficult endeavour but for new business owners - particularly if you are like me and you start your business young - it's hard to find a lot of other young people who are really ambitious in this industry and looking to start their own firm.”
She added: “I encourage anyone who is thinking about starting their own firm to do it. It's brilliant.
“Now that we have networks and you can be a self employed adviser or an IFA, you don't necessarily have to start your own directly authorised firm.”
Can you name one to three things you would’ve liked more help or advice on when you first started out?
“Clients really value working with somebody who they feel they can relate to so I think early on, it felt very much like when we were training, there was an image of a financial adviser and we had to become that,” she said.
“What I've learned now is by being yourself, you are going to get clients who are really going to have the best time working with you rather than working with someone they don't necessarily relate to.
“So I wish there'd been more encouragement to find your own style and not try to fit in so much to the mould of being a financial adviser.”
She explained that now, there's lots of different people who look and sound very different and they're all called financial advisers but that wasn't the case at the time.
Still, from the outside for anyone younger coming into the industry, that perception could still be there so this is one area for improvement.
The other thing is exam support as Nabarro explained there isn't huge amounts of help in terms of studying while you are working.
“The truth is, it doesn't really matter what industry you're in. If you want to get a professional qualification and you're studying whilst working - it's a hard thing to do,” she said.
