Financial Planner Life Podcast

A paraplanner sits down on a Monday morning to write one new business suitability report and loses most of the day to it. The document runs to 40+ pages. The client takes it home after a one hour meeting and, if we are honest, reads about five of them. Sam Oakes is joined by Jack Sleator, co-founder of Templi and a former paraplanner and adviser who spent five years inside UK advice firms before he started building software for them. Jack went from a graduate admin scheme at a large Irish wealth manager, into paraplanning at a national firm in Newcastle, then into advice at an IFA, before co-founding Templi in 2024. Templi started life as a suitability report writing tool and relaunched as a connector that sits across the systems advice firms already use, automating the work in between client meetings. That shift is the heart of this conversation. Writing the report faster is the easy win. What happens to the paraplanner career path, to accountability, and to the 40 page document itself is the much harder question, and Jack does not dodge any of it. In a survey of 209 advisers, suitability report writing came out as the single biggest bottleneck in the advice workflow, taking around three hours on average. Jack has customers who have cut that to 20 minutes. He is also the first to say that a time saving in one place does not change what an advice business is capable of. This episode is built for paraplanners, financial advisers and firm owners who want a straight answer on what AI actually changes inside a regulated advice business, rather than another round of provider marketing. EPISODE TAKEAWAYS: • Why Jack thinks the paraplanner role survives, and which tasks he expects to disappear first • The uncomfortable gap behind a 74% AI adoption rate and a 6.2 out of 10 efficiency score • The reason your data does not need to be perfect before you start, only reachable • What happens to the junior career ladder when AI handles the letters of authority • The one question to ask an AI output before you put your name on it • Whether the 40 page suitability report deserves to survive at all • Where to start on Monday morning if your firm has not touched AI yet Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Almost nobody in financial services can explain what an employee benefits consultant actually does all day, which is strange for a specialism that sits inside most of the big advice firms in the UK. Sam Oakes is joined by Natalie Malone, who leads the Risk and Reward team within Titan Wealth's corporate division. Natalie has spent almost 17 years in this part of the profession, starting in junior support roles and working her way up to running a specialist team of healthcare and group risk consultants. Her clients are businesses rather than individuals, so the people she advises are HR directors, finance directors and, in smaller firms, the CEO. The job is to build a wellbeing strategy that keeps staff healthy, engaged and at work, then justify every pound of it with data the business can see for itself. Rising private medical premiums, group income protection, salary exchange, early intervention on long term absence, menopause awareness, neurodiversity support: all of it sits alongside corporate pensions and individual advice, and all of it is regularly bought, filed and forgotten by the businesses paying for it. Key takeaways: ●Why an employer's greatest asset is the exact thing most benefits packages fail to protect properly ●The difference between risk and reward, and why confusing them costs businesses money ●How claims data turns a nervous employer into a convinced one ●What early intervention really means, and why the target is the people who are struggling but not yet signed off ●Why Natalie will not call herself a broker ● What she looks for when hiring, and the one thing she says cannot be taught Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Financial planners are sitting on a confidence problem: a 70% opportunity gap when it comes to closing, and it is costing them business they should be winning. Chris Larkin, founder of training consultancy BigRock, returns to the podcast alongside Mark Rockliffe, CEO of Pembroke Financial Planning, to unpack what is really behind that number and what Pembroke has done differently over the past 12 months, growing from around 80 to 170 people along the way. BigRock's Advisor Advantage diagnostic tool, completed by hundreds of Financial Planner Life listeners, found this audience scoring 48% higher than the industry average on protecting time before and after client meetings, one of several results Chris and Mark break down in this episode. For financial planners, advisers and business owners in financial services who want to close more consultatively, not more aggressively. Key takeaways: ●Why "are you happy to go ahead?" is the only closing line advisers need ● The acronym BigRock uses to turn a client's own words into the reason they act ●What a 137% gap in structured objection handling is really telling the industry ●Why only 9% of UK adults take financial planning advice ●How Pembroke grew from 80 to 170 people without changing what “selling” means to its advisers Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Jeanne Mpondo asked a room full of women in London whether anybody there was investing in anything. Not one hand went up. She then asked who owned their home or held a pension, and hands went up all over the room. Jeanne Mpondo is a St. James's Place partner running her own practice in London, and a former senior data analyst at S&P Global. She came into financial planning by accident, after helping her uncle raise the funding for long term care. She talks to Sam Oakes about coming through the St. James's Place Academy with three children at home, choosing to build her own practice from nothing rather than inherit a client bank, and specialising in women who are independent business owners and senior executives in the city. Running underneath it all is a language problem: the profession keeps describing money in words that do not match how a lot of clients experience their own. Around 56% of the world's wealth is expected to be in the hands of women from 2027. Jeanne is candid about what she has learned about actually reaching that client, from the 37 to 45 age window she works in to the reason her clients book that first meeting on their own. Key Takeaways: • The question that emptied a room of raised hands, and what it revealed about how clients hear the word investing • Why her female clients come to the first meeting alone, and what changes when the spouse finally joins • The asset most women overlook in a divorce until the negotiation has already moved past it • What a career break quietly costs a pension by 60, and the window to make it back • Why she tells anyone eyeing the partner route to bank two to three years of resources first • The half of the qualification nobody warns you about, and it is not the exams Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Towards the end of her ten years in law, Imogen worked out that fifteen hour days for three and a half months would get her to the billable hours she needed for her bonus. She did it, hit the number, and then handed in her notice. Sam Oakes speaks to Imogen Winfield, Paraplanner and soon to be qualified financial planner at City Gate Financial Planning, about the five month career break that became a complete change of profession. Imogen spent a decade at a US law firm, qualifying into litigation and working on commercial disputes and investigations with a financial services focus. Her clients were institutional investors, hedge funds and ultra high net worth individuals. What she did not have was control over her own time, and partnership, the destination everyone else was working towards, was the part that appealed least. She took an 84% pay cut to join City Gate, the largest pay cut that Sam has come across from anyone entering the profession. She started as operations manager, moved into paraplanning within four months, and is now close to being signed off as a competent adviser. Key takeaways: • Why partnership does not mean taking your foot off the gas, from someone who watched it up close • The billable hours maths that produced fifteen hour days for three and a half months • The single question that made financial planning click, and it had nothing to do with returns • Why lawyers on six figures need advice years before they think they do • What an operations role teaches a career changer that an admin role never will • The cashflow assumption almost every adviser gets wrong about high earning lawyers Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Rebecca Ellis became a Chartered Fellow in her early twenties, but becoming a financial adviser wasn’t her immediate next step. Today, she is Head of Advice at Titan Wealth International in Dubai, with experience spanning technical financial planning, paraplanning, international advice, operations and leadership. In this episode of the Financial Planner Life Podcast, in partnership with Titan Wealth, Sam Oakes speaks with Rebecca about her career journey and the range of opportunities available within financial planning. Rebecca initially studied accounting and finance at university before switching to a financial planning degree. The course provided exemptions towards her professional qualifications and helped her progress towards Chartered and Fellow status. However, qualifications didn’t automatically make her feel ready to advise clients. Instead, Rebecca built experience through administration, paraplanning and technical financial planning. They discuss the difference between technical knowledge and real-world confidence, the value of developing depth early in a career and whether young professionals feel pressure to progress too quickly. Rebecca also reflects on the importance of female role models. Working alongside a successful female adviser who had progressed through administration and paraplanning helped her see what was possible in a profession where women remain underrepresented. After moving from the UK to Dubai, Rebecca developed a career in international and cross-border financial planning. She explains the complexities of working with internationally mobile clients who may live in one country, hold assets in another and eventually return to the UK, as well as the importance of technical expertise and collaboration across jurisdictions. The conversation also explores Rebecca’s role at Titan Wealth International. Her responsibilities now extend beyond technical advice and supporting financial planners to include operations, business integration, acquisitions and wider group initiatives. Rebecca has participated in Titan Wealth’s Next Generation Leaders programme, and completing an MBA has strengthened her interest in business strategy and leadership. This episode challenges the idea that becoming a financial adviser is the only career destination in financial planning. Opportunities also exist in paraplanning, technical advice, operations, proposition development, leadership, strategy and international planning. In this episode we discuss: • Financial planning degrees and apprenticeships • Becoming Chartered early in your career • Qualifications versus real-world experience • Administration, paraplanning and technical planning careers • Women and female leadership in financial planning • Moving from the UK to Dubai • International and cross-border financial planning • Working with internationally mobile clients • Careers at Titan Wealth International • Titan Wealth’s Next Generation Leaders programme • Moving into business strategy • Career opportunities beyond becoming a financial adviser Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

After 13 years inside a financial advice network, Wayne Griffith and One Financial Solutions have become directly authorised by the FCA. But what does it really take to become a directly authorised financial advice firm? How long does FCA authorisation take, what are the risks, and when is the right time to leave a network? Wayne joins Sam Oakes on the Financial Planner Life Podcast to share the full story behind One Financial Solutions becoming directly authorised. The process took around 18 months, including nine months of preparation followed by a demanding nine-month FCA application. Wayne speaks honestly about the interviews, capital adequacy requirements, compliance responsibilities and the steep learning curve that comes with taking full accountability for a financial advice business. He also explains why the FCA was far more supportive than he expected and how compliance consultancy 360 helped prepare the business for direct authorisation. Why did One Financial Solutions become directly authorised? For Wayne, it came down to greater control, accountability and agility. He wanted the freedom to shape the firm’s investment proposition, decide which advisers joined the business, develop future advisers and build a privately owned company capable of creating long-term wealth for its people. This is not an attack on financial advice networks. Wayne explains why networks remain essential, particularly for new advisers and smaller firms that need a “business in a box.” After 13 years of support, One Financial Solutions had simply reached a stage where its ambitions required greater independence. In this episode, we explore: • How to become directly authorised by the FCA • How long the FCA authorisation process can take • The true cost and responsibility of becoming directly authorised • The difference between a directly authorised firm and an appointed representative • Why financial advice networks remain valuable • Capital adequacy, compliance and FCA interviews • Building a centralised investment proposition • Creating generational wealth for financial advisers • One Financial Solutions’ plan to grow to 100 advisers • Training trainee and junior financial planners • Why new advisers should learn marketing and build a niche • Neurodiversity within financial planning firms • How AI could change administration, paraplanning and client service Should your financial advice firm become directly authorised? Wayne’s answer is clear: direct authorisation is not automatically better. It depends on the size, experience, resources and long-term ambitions of the business. A network can provide valuable protection and infrastructure. Direct authorisation provides greater control, but also places far more responsibility on the firm and its leadership team. If you are considering leaving a network, applying for FCA authorisation or joining a growing directly authorised financial advice firm, this episode gives you a refreshingly honest view of what lies ahead. CHAPTERS 00:00 Wayne Griffith’s big announcement 01:10 Why One Financial Solutions became directly authorised 02:19 Working with the FCA and 360 04:40 Why financial advice networks are valuable 06:17 When a network may stop fitting your business 07:50 Control, accountability and generational wealth 12:00 The reality of the FCA application process 14:10 Training the next generation of advisers 20:24 Marketing, lead generation and building a niche 23:55 Neurodiversity in financial planning 30:36 AI, upskilling and serving the mass market 34:24 The future of One Financial Solutions 42:49 The Hundred Club growth plan 48:28 How to contact Wayne Griffith Learn more about One Financial Solutions at www.onefinancialsolutions.co.uk Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Trevor Greetham, Head of Multi-Asset at Royal London Asset Management, still measures market timing with a clock face borrowed from a 1930s newspaper. The idea dates back to a reference Trevor found from the London Evening Standard, a clock face marking out stages of the economic cycle: recession, recovery, late cycle, slowdown, each paired with the assets that historically perform well there. The problem, he explains, is that confirming exactly where you sit on that clock in real time is nearly impossible. Recessions are usually only confirmed months after they start, by which point markets have already moved on without you. Rather than guessing, Trevor's team at Royal London reads growth and inflation directly to estimate the current position. Falling inflation paired with strengthening growth points to recovery, favouring stocks. A slowdown paired with rising inflation points to stagflation, favouring commodities. This year, that reading has pointed to stagflation, with tensions in the Middle East cited as the driver, and it feeds directly into the team's daily tactical positioning. The conversation also brings in Robin Ellis, Director of Portfolio Management at St. James's Place, who talks through how Saint James's Place selects and vets the fund managers advisers ultimately rely on. He's candid about a trap he fell into earlier in his career, mistaking a confident conference speaker for a genuinely strong investment process, and why SJP now runs a weekly adviser podcast and curates its annual investment conference specifically to avoid that mistake. Trevor also explains why the phrase "passive multi-asset" doesn't really make sense to him, since clients rarely come to an adviser asking for a specific asset class, they come with a savings goal and a risk appetite that needs blending into a portfolio, not a label. Key takeaways from this episode: How the investment clock framework has been used to read markets since the 1930s Why knowing exactly where you are in the economic cycle in real time is nearly impossible How Trevor's team uses growth and inflation indicators instead of guesswork Why this year's read has pointed to stagflation, and what that means for portfolio positioning Why Trevor believes "passive multi-asset" is a phrase that doesn't really hold up Why a great conference speaker isn't always a sign of a great investment team How St. James's Place vets and curates the fund managers advisers ultimately rely on Why SJP runs a weekly adviser podcast alongside its annual investment conference This episode is for financial advisers who want a clearer framework for reading market cycles, and for anyone curious about how professional portfolio managers actually separate a good pitch from a genuinely good process. Learn more about Royal London Asset Management at royallondon.com , and about St. James's Place at sjp.co.uk . Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Think about it like Netflix, but for CPD. That's how David Tait, of Redmill Advance, describes the platform he's built for financial advisers, back on this week’s episode to talk through it. Rather than static articles followed by a handful of multiple-choice questions, the platform's content is genuinely interactive: cards to flip, embedded videos you have to engage with, and many tests to work through along the way, specifically so advisers actually retain what they've studied rather than just logging hours. Firms can also automate the rollout of mandatory training across the year, spreading modules like AML, TCF, and whistleblowing training out on a schedule rather than leaving it to individual advisers to remember, a separate but equally practical piece of what the platform handles. Most advisers treat their annual CPD hours as a box to tick, something to squeeze in whenever there's time, often right before the deadline. David Tait sees that as backwards. His actual advice is to commit to three or four hours a month, every month, aiming each session at whatever gap in your knowledge is most relevant to the clients you're currently working with, rather than treating all 35 hours as one undifferentiated pile to clear at the last minute. David also talks through who actually uses the platform, a genuinely wide range, from four or five person practices right through to some of the largest financial services organisations in the UK, including SJP, Quilter, and Openwork. Larger firms tend to take the fully white-labelled version, everything branded in their own name, while smaller firms typically use the Redmill-branded platform instead, with the same content and reporting tools underneath either way. Key takeaways from this episode: Why David compares his platform to Netflix, and what that actually means in practice Why Redmill Advance's content is built to be interactive rather than a standard read-and-answer format How firms can automate the rollout of mandatory training like AML and TCF across the year Why David tells advisers never to cram their CPD hours at the end of the year What a good monthly CPD strategy actually looks like Why the true purpose of CPD is staying sharp for clients, not just hitting a number of hours What size firms actually use the Redmill Advance platform, from small practices to major UK names The difference between the white-labelled and Redmill-branded versions of the platform This episode is for financial advisers who treat CPD as an annual scramble, and for firm owners and compliance leads evaluating whether their current training setup is actually working. Learn more about Redmill Advance at redmilladvance.com . Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Laura Fordham's (Financial Adviser at Titan Wealth) route into financial planning wasn't planned. She spent her first year handling the job entirely alone, while her client bank was still small. She lays out exactly what that year looked like in conversation with Sam Oakes this week Laura Fordham's route into financial planning wasn't planned. She started out on maternity cover in an admin role at Barclays Wealth, and it was proximity to the financial planning job , printing client packs and greeting people in the office, that first got her curious about the profession. From there she trained through the St. James's Place Academy, deliberately choosing to stay client-facing rather than build a partner practice of her own, and later moved into an independent firm, before they were eventually acquired by Titan Wealth. Laura is candid about how tough the early years actually were. Building a client bank from scratch inside a heavily regulated industry took what she describes as an "eat what you kill" mentality: real drive, real setbacks and small wins that made the whole thing worth it. She's just as direct about what came later: leaving St. James's Place for independence, learning how to build professional connections with accountants and solicitors without ever resorting to a hard sell, and the responsibility of inheriting clients through acquisition who never chose her as their adviser in the first place. The conversation closes on a wider industry issue. Only around 16% of financial planners are women, and Laura shares her own view on why more women should consider the career, along with what she's doing within her own client base to encourage more engagement from the female clients in the couples that she looks after. Key takeaways from this episode: How an admin role at Barclays Wealth led Laura into financial planning, almost by chance What building a client bank from nothing demands Why Laura chose to stay client-facing rather than build her own business How to build professional referral connections without a hard sell What it takes to win over clients who arrive through acquisition rather than their choice Only around 16% of financial planners are women and what Laura believes needs to change Learn more about Titan Wealth at www.titanwealth.com . Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Lewis Prosser has spent years myth-busting what it takes to go chartered. He is joined this week by David Tait of Redmill Advance. Lewis runs the St. James's Place programme supporting advisers from Level 4 through to Chartered status, and one of the most common myths he encounters is the assumption that becoming a Chartered Financial Adviser requires five years of experience, specifically as a financial adviser. Interestingly, Lewis has never advised a client himself, yet he’s chartered, a fellow across three professional bodies, and holds a master's degree in finance. In this conversation, alongside David, he unpacks the real data behind whether becoming Chartered is worth pursuing at all, including a 2025 market survey showing chartered financial planners earn 31% more income than Level 4 advisers (around £30,000 a year in real terms), and an average 50% increase in business linked to going chartered. Lewis also reveals that he actually found becoming a Fellow easier to achieve than Chartered and thinks that's wrong, arguing the Fellowship should demand more from candidates, not less. Beyond the numbers, Lewis walks through the credit system behind becoming chartered, his own hacks for getting there faster, and why the process requires three years of recorded CPD. He shares how a study text would switch him off after a couple of pages, how he leaned on audio and video learning instead, and how a realistic two-to-three-year plan with mentors got him through it: sacrifices, rugby, and all. David also shares how Redmill Advance is using AI avatars to keep training current and scalable for a growing population of advisers working towards Chartered. Key takeaways from this episode: Why the five-year experience requirement for Chartered doesn't have to be as a financial adviser Why chartered financial planners earn 31% more income than Level 4 advisers, according to a 2025 market survey Why becoming chartered is linked to a 50% increase in business on average What actually changes between Level 4 and Level 6 qualifications The credit system behind Chartered, and Lewis's sequencing hacks for getting there faster Why Lewis found Fellow easier to achieve than Chartered, and why he thinks that's backwards How the SJP and University of Gloucestershire master's programme works for chartered advisers How Redmill Advance is using AI avatars to help scale training for advisers working towards Chartered This episode is for financial advisers weighing up whether to pursue Chartered or Fellow status, and for training providers and firms thinking about how to structure long-term professional development. Learn more about St. James's Place at www.sjp.co.uk , and about Redmill Advance at www.redmilladvance.com . Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Hardy Michel is the founder of Marloo, an AI tool for financial advisers, and one of the most unusual things you'll hear him say as a tech founder, is that he'd rather you didn't sign a long-term contract for AI - even though it works against him commercially! Spending years working behind the scenes at retail investing platforms, Hardy Michel watched the same pattern play out again and again: people wanting to do the right thing with their money, then panicking and getting it wrong the moment markets got volatile. That observation, more than any grand plan, is what eventually led him to found and build "Shares" in New Zealand, which grew to over 20% of the country's population as users and 250 employees, and later Lightyear, launched across 22 European countries. Rather than build another consumer-facing platform, Hardy chose to focus on advisers directly. He and his co-founder spent six months embedded inside advice firms across the UK and Australia researching the profession before building Marloo, shadowing every role from managing director to paraplanner to understand exactly where time and energy were being lost. What that research surfaced was a profession where a single one-hour client meeting can generate ten hours of follow-up work. Hardy says Marloo can cut an annual review report from 3 hours down to 20 minutes. The conversation also covers a candid warning: Hardy tells advisers not to lock into long-term AI contracts, even though it works against Marloo's own commercial interest, because he's seen firms overpromised and under-delivered by competitors who don't keep pace. He also addresses how Marloo handles client data differently to advisers using ChatGPT or Claude directly, and where he sees AI fitting alongside, rather than replacing, a firm's CRM. Key takeaways from this episode: Why Hardy believes the real gap in financial advice is access, not quality How a one-hour client review meeting can generate ten hours of follow-up admin Why Hardy says Marloo can cut an annual review report from three hours down to 20 minutes Why Hardy and his co-founder spent six months researching inside advice firms before building Marloo Why Hardy advises against long-term AI contracts, even though Marloo only offers monthly ones How Marloo's data handling differs from advisers using ChatGPT or Claude directly Why Hardy sees AI as a complement to a firm's CRM, not a replacement for it This episode is for financial advisers and firm owners weighing up whether an AI tool is worth adopting, and for anyone curious about the research that goes into building software for a profession this heavily regulated. Visit https://www.marloo.com/us to try Marloo. Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Natalie Cheesman, Partner at St. James's Place, joins Sam Oakes to talk about how she built a financial planning practice to £6 million in funds under management in 18 months, without ever fully stepping away from the mortgage business she'd run for 15 years. In this episode, Natalie explains why a transactional mortgage career, however loyal her 1,200-client bank was, left her wanting something more predictable, and what it actually took to build financial planning on top of it rather than instead of it. Natalie talks through passing the CII Investment Advice Diploma in under a year while still running that mortgage business solo, and training through the St. James's Place Academy while continuing to submit mortgage applications in the evenings and on breaks. She describes the support that got her through those first months as a new financial planner, including a business development manager she'd sometimes speak to daily and an administrative specialist who had her submitting business from day one, and how she methodically worked back through her existing client bank and added mortgage-introducer partnerships to grow from £40,000 to £6 million in funds under management through organic growth alone. She also talks about the moment a client realises they can retire years earlier than they thought, what it took to keep building a business through a genuinely hard period in her own life, and what winning the Mike Wilson Award meant to her after 18 months of work. Key takeaways from this episode: Why Natalie kept her mortgage business running while training as a financial planner How she passed the CII Investment Advice Diploma in under a year while running that business solo What day-to-day support from a St. James's Place business development manager and administrative specialist looked like How she rebuilt momentum with her existing 1,200-client mortgage bank How a mortgage-introducer partnership became a steady source of new business How she grew from £40,000 to £6 million in funds under management in 18 months What winning the Mike Wilson Award meant to her, and the resilience behind it This is an episode for mortgage advisors weighing up whether financial planning is the right next move for them, and for newer financial planners looking for a practical blueprint on client conversion and introducer relationships. Learn more about St. James's Place at www.sjp.co.uk Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Dan Hobbs, CEO at New Leaf Distribution, joins Sam Oakes to talk about what building their own podcast has delivered for an IFA Network. He's joined by his father, Founder & Chairman of New Leaf Distribution, Mark Hobbs, whose own scepticism about podcasting turned around once it started outperforming close to £1,000,000 spent on Google Ads." In this episode, Dan and Mark explain why Mark was initially convinced podcasting was a gimmick, and what it took for Dan to change his mind. They talk about why New Leaf deliberately avoided the well worn topics every other network already covers, choosing instead to focus on what it is actually like to become an adviser and what happens in the silence after qualifying, when the phone stops ringing. The conversation also covers how New Leaf supports advisers through retirement and exit, including a striking story about completing a business sale with no contract in place after an adviser's death, and why New Leaf positions itself as a compliance thought leader rather than buying out its own advisers' client banks. Dan and Mark also share what happened after their very first guest, Kelsey Phillips, went live on the podcast, and why New Leaf's own advisers are now lining up, asking to be featured on the podcast. Key takeaways from this episode: Why most business podcasts fail, and what New Leaf built theirs around instead How Mark went from thinking podcasting was a gimmick to backing Dan's idea completely Why New Leaf avoids generic advice content in favour of what it is really like to become an adviser How New Leaf supported an adviser's family through a business sale with no contract in place Why New Leaf positions itself as a compliance thought leader rather than buying its own advisers' client banks Why New Leaf would rather a business stay within its own network than go to an M&A buyer How Kelsey, New Leaf's first podcast guest, ended up with more development finance leads than she was ready for Why New Leaf's own advisers are now asking to be featured on the podcast This is an episode for anyone running a business in financial services, who is weighing up whether a podcast is worth the investment, and for any adviser starting to think about what their own exit from the profession might look like. Learn more about New Leaf at https://newleafdistribution.co.uk/ Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Dan Armitage (CEO of Neuro Sparks) and David Tait (Founder of Redmill Advance,) joins Sam Oakes to talk about supporting neurodivergent individuals in financial planning. Dan spent a decade as a regulated financial adviser, as well as a bank manager in his early twenties, before founding Neuro Sparks with his mother three years ago. He lives with ADHD, dyslexia and dyscalculia himself, and that experience now shapes every part of how he trains other financial planners. In this conversation, Dan explains what it was like navigating a career in financial services before he had the language for his own neurodivergence, and what changed once he understood it properly. He and David discuss why 15% of the population is neurodivergent, and why so many employers still are not equipped to identify or support that within their own teams. They also walk through Dan's own academic journey, from sitting his CII exams with a short term memory in the bottom 1% of the population, through to completing a level seven postgraduate certificate in neurodiversity at university - something he describes as the first time in his life he felt he could genuinely study. David shares how Redmill Advance builds neurodivergent support directly into training academies of up to 500 delegates at a time, including how trainers are taught to spot when someone is struggling and quietly adjust their approach without singling anyone out. Sam also shares his own ADHD diagnosis in detail, and how it changed the way he runs Financial Planner Life, once he understood his own way of working. Key takeaways from this episode: Why 15% of the population is neurodivergent and what that means for financial planning firms today How Dan built Neuro Sparks with his mother after a decade as a regulated financial adviser What it was like working in financial planning before Dan was diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia and dyscalculia How Dan sat his CII exams with a bottom 1% memory What employers notice, and what they don't, when it comes to how their people think What reasonable adjustments actually mean under the Equality Act, and where the limits of "reasonable" sit for employers How Redmill Advance tailors training for neurodivergent delegates inside academies of up to five hundred people Why Sam decided to share his own ADHD diagnosis on the podcast, and what it changed about how he runs Financial Planner Life This is an episode for financial planning firms thinking seriously about how they support neurodivergent staff, for managers who want to spot the signs before someone reaches a crisis point, and for any financial planner who has ever wondered whether their own brain works a little differently to everyone else's. Learn more about Neuro Sparks Business Solutions at www.neurosparksolutions.com and Redmill Advance at www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Matthew Samuel, UK Chartered Financial Planner and SEC Regulated Financial Planner at Titan Wealth International, has built a career across both the UK and the international market, specialising in advising clients with US connections and US assets from his base in Dubai. He holds his UK chartered status alongside the Series 65 qualification, which makes him a registered investment adviser under the SEC, the US regulator. That means he can advise American expats living anywhere in the world, UK pension holders based in the US, and anyone navigating assets across both jurisdictions. It is one of the most technically demanding niches in financial planning, and it is exactly where he chose to specialise. In this episode of Financial Planner Life, Sam Oakes sits down with Matthew in Dubai to find out what that career actually looks like day to day. How he established credibility as a young adviser without years of experience behind him, and why getting your exams done early is the single best thing a young financial planner can do. How Covid changed the way international advice is delivered, making it possible to speak to clients across New York, Texas and San Francisco all in one evening without boarding a single flight. And what the One Titan philosophy actually means in practice, from following clients across borders as their lives change to having specialists in-house for almost every jurisdiction in the world. Titan Wealth International is expanding into the US with advisers on the ground, building the infrastructure to serve clients wherever in the world they end up. This is an episode for UK financial planners thinking about an international career, for anyone curious about what advising US-connected clients actually involves, and for anyone who wants to understand what a genuinely global financial planning business looks like. The episode's key takeaways: Why Matthew combined his UK chartered status with the Series 65 to advise US-connected clients internationally How knowledge compensates for lack of experience in client meetings and why young advisers should prioritise their exams How Covid changed international financial planning delivery and what that means for advisers thinking about going global What a 401k is and why so many sit dormant and unreviewed for international clients What the IRA rollover actually means and why it matters for US clients with UK connections What One Titan means in practice and why a borderless financial planning business changes everything for internationally mobile clients Why Titan Wealth International is expanding into the US and what that means for financial planners considering an international career If you are a UK financial planner thinking about taking your career international, this is the episode to listen to. Learn more about Titan Wealth International at www.titanwealthinternational.com Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

What does it take to leave a secure career, become self-employed and build a financial planning business managing close to £40 million in just three years? In this episode of the Financial Planner Life podcast, Sam Oakes speaks with Samantha Wood, founder of Wood Mitchell Financial Planning and a Partner at St. James’s Place. Samantha’s career began in the British Army, where she progressed from soldier to officer and developed the discipline, leadership and adaptability that would later shape her career in financial services. After leaving the military, Samantha moved into investment management, completed her Chartered Wealth Manager qualifications and spent almost a decade working with high-net-worth private clients. She later made the decision to leave employment, become a self-employed financial planner and build her own business from the ground up. Samantha shares how she started with zero clients, built trusted relationships with accountants and professional introducers, developed a niche working with business owners and grew her practice to nearly £40 million in assets under management. The conversation also explores why financial planning is about more than investment performance. Samantha explains how strong financial planning can reduce anxiety, improve financial well-being and give clients greater confidence about their future. This episode is essential listening for aspiring financial planners, investment managers considering a career change, military professionals exploring financial services and advisers who want to build a sustainable financial planning business. Subscribe to Financial Planner Life for more honest conversations about careers, leadership, business growth and opportunities within financial planning and financial services. In this episode, you will learn: 00:00 From Zero to Nearly £40m Under Management 00:40 Samantha Wood’s Financial Planning Career Story 01:40 Joining the British Army at 16 03:29 Transferable Military Skills for Financial Services 04:26 Leadership, Communication and Leading from the Front 05:33 Discipline, Well-Being and High Performance 06:34 Leaving the Military and Exploring New Careers 10:50 Breaking into Investment Management 13:11 Working with High-Net-Worth Private Clients 15:40 Why Client Relationships Matter More Than Technical Knowledge 17:27 Becoming a Chartered Wealth Manager 19:44 Investment Management vs Financial Planning 22:11 How Investment Experience Adds Value for Clients 23:54 Financial Planning, Anxiety and Financial Well-Being 27:47 Communicating with Clients During Market Volatility 32:14 Why Samantha Chose a Career in Financial Planning 34:00 Leaving Employment to Build a Financial Advice Business 35:10 Why She Chose St. James’s Place 36:44 Making the Leap into Self-Employment 39:31 Planning Your First Year as a Self-Employed Adviser 41:02 How Long Does It Take to Earn Consistent Income? 44:22 Building a Financial Planning Practice to Nearly £40m 45:43 Finding a Financial Planning Niche 47:09 Helping Business Owners Plan Beyond Their Business 48:28 Building a Referral Network with Accountants 50:13 Systems, Technology and Your First 12 Months 52:12 Taking Smart Risks and Aiming Higher 54:37 Autonomy, Family Life and Running Your Own Practice 57:50 The Reality of Being a Financial Planner and Business Owner To find out more about Samantha's work at St. James's Place, visit www.sjp.co.uk Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Romany Youell, Founder of The Finance Woman, qualified as the UK's youngest ever financial adviser at 18 after dropping out of college at 16. By 24 she had built a £10 million financial planning business. But the journey between those two moments nearly broke her. In this episode of Financial Planner Life, Sam Oakes sits down with Romany to hear the full story. How she grew up going to client meetings with her dad from the age of 11. How she dropped out of college at 16 and qualified as a mortgage adviser before most of her peers had finished their A-levels. How Quilter Financial Adviser School made a one-year exception to let her in early. And how, after becoming the UK's youngest financial adviser, she spent two to three years being told she would never succeed because she was a woman and nearly walked away from the profession entirely. The turning point came at a women in business networking event she almost cancelled. Six women around a table. One conversation. And the moment she realised it was not just her who did not fit into the industry. There was a whole community of people being left out of it. She went home that night and set up The Finance Woman. This is an episode for anyone early in their financial planning career who feels like they do not belong. For anyone who has been told they are not what the industry is looking for. And for anyone who wants to understand what it actually takes to build a financial planning business from scratch. The episode's key takeaways: How Romany dropped out of college at 16 and qualified as the UK's youngest financial adviser at 18 What it was like growing up watching her dad build a mortgage business from his bedroom Why Quilter Financial Adviser School made a one-year exception to let her in early The comments she received from other advisers about being a woman in financial planning Why trying to change her accent, wardrobe and language to fit in made things worse The networking event she nearly cancelled that changed the direction of everything How one conversation with six women led to The Finance Woman being born How she built a £10 million financial planning business before the age of 24 If you are building a financial planning career and feeling like you do not fit in, this is the episode to listen to. If you would like to find out more about Romany's work or get in touch, visit www.thefinancewoman.co.uk Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Aycan Richards, Chartered Financial Planner at Titan Wealth, spent 13 years building a financial planning career across Qatar and Dubai before making the decision to sell her business and hand her clients over to Titan Wealth. In this episode of Financial Planner Life, Sam Oakes sits down with Aycan to find out what that journey actually looked like. How she moved to Qatar in 2013 with a seven-year-old daughter and no existing client base. How she built trust from scratch using a referral-first approach that eventually became the foundation of a business worth selling. What it meant to be one of the few female chartered financial planners working in the international expat space. And what the emotional and practical reality of exiting a financial planning business actually looks like. Aycan also speaks openly about the misconceptions most people have about working and living in the Middle East as a woman, and why almost every concern she had before she moved turned out to be wrong. She talks about the "One Titan" philosophy and why Titan Wealth's presence across multiple countries was a key factor in her decision to sell her book to them rather than anyone else. This is an episode for women thinking about taking their financial planning career international, for advisers in the expat space wondering how to exit their business on their own terms, and for anyone who wants to understand what a long, respected international financial planning career actually looks like. The episode's key takeaways: What it was really like to move to Qatar in 2013 as a female financial planner with a young family How Aycan built a client base from scratch with no existing relationships in a new market Why almost every preconception about working and living in the Middle East as a woman turned out to be wrong What it means to be a female adviser in a profession where only 16% of UK advisers are women Why Aycan chose Titan Wealth to take over her clients and what the transition process looks like What the "One Titan" philosophy means in practice for clients moving between countries The emotional reality of exiting a business you have spent years building Why women considering international financial planning should reach out to Aycan directly on LinkedIn If you are a financial adviser thinking about going international or planning your exit, this is the episode to listen to. Learn more about Titan Wealth at www.titanwealthinternational.com Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.

Most financial advisers already know they should be more active on LinkedIn. What they don't know is why what they're doing isn't working. Free LinkedIn Webinar - book here - http://www.leadgenfs.co.uk/fpl It's not the content. It's not the consistency. It's who they're connected to, what they're saying in messages, and whether they've ever stopped to define exactly who they're trying to reach. Get those three things wrong and LinkedIn produces nothing. Get them right and, as Louis Adkins puts it, consistent inputs get consistent outputs. In this episode of Financial Planner Life, Sam Oakes sits down with Louis Adkins, Founder of LeadGenFS, who started building his LinkedIn system at 19 during his second year of university. He was studying geography, had no marketing background, and no clients. His first break came through a friend's dad. By his third year he had a waiting list of 27 clients, built entirely from LinkedIn. He graduated and went straight into the business full time. In the last 12 months alone, LeadGenFS has worked with over 100 financial advisers, helping them generate 3 to 5 qualified appointments a week from LinkedIn. One adviser added £12 million in AUM in 12 months. Another booked 47 calls in 90 days. A third sent 20 messages, went for a shower, came back seven minutes later and had an interested reply waiting. Louis breaks down the full system in this episode. How to niche down so your message actually lands with the right people. Why automated outreach destroys trust and gets accounts banned. How to build content that speaks to clients rather than other advisers. How to generate ideas consistently from your own conversations. And how to use direct messages to convert your audience into booked appointments without opening with a pitch. He also covers why referrals, as good as they are, will never give you control over your own growth, and what to build instead as your primary source of new clients. The episode's key takeaways: Why referrals are a bonus, not a primary strategy, and what to build alongside them Why 95% of financial advisers' LinkedIn connections are other advisers, not potential clients Why automated outreach gets accounts banned and never builds the trust needed to convert How to niche down so your content and messages cut through to the right people Why asking for business in the first message is like proposing on a first date The three legs of the LinkedIn system: connecting, content, and direct messaging How to generate consistent content ideas from your own client conversations The three parts of every LinkedIn post: hook, value, and action The message priority ladder: who to contact first and in what order Why LinkedIn leads convert at around 30% versus 75% for referrals, and why that still makes LinkedIn the better primary source If you are a financial adviser who wants to stop relying on referrals and start generating clients consistently, this is the episode to listen to. Louis has also put together a free resource for Financial Planner Life listeners: five of the best performing post templates from LeadGenFS, available at http://www.leadgenfs.co.uk/fpl Want to build your personal brand and generate better client leads on LinkedIn? Sam Oakes and Louis Adkins are hosting a free webinar. Register here 👉 https://038a8hn1lhs.typeform.com/to/NXlbUqAI Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms 👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Reach out to ceri@financialplannerlife.com Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production.