1. How long have you been in the Industry?
I started in the investment department of Perpetual Trustees in Melbourne in 1975 and joined stockbrokers Randall & Co in late 1977, so I’ve just ticked over 50 years in the Industry.
2. What inspired you to pursue a career in stockbroking or investment advice and what do you enjoy most about working in the industry?
Before I joined Perpetual Trustees, I worked in the Insurance Industry and some of my smarter clients kept telling me that there were better investment options than insurance and so I decided to learn more about investments by signing up for the Securities Institute course as soon as I joined Perpetual. I had a great boss who encouraged me to study.
As soon as I started attending the lectures, I realised that I had found a subject that I was really interested in learning about.
This was very different to when I was studying pharmacy at university where I ultimately failed.
I was very lucky when I joined Randall’s because Brian Randall was not only a leading stockbroker, but he was also a visionary for financial planning in Australia. In those days we called it retirement planning.
We built our private client business on the back of running free seminars for both public and corporate clients such as Coles and Repco which is where my lecturing career began.
In the early days of my career, I became a member of the Securities Institute of Australia and thoroughly enjoyed going to the lunchtime presentations which were given by very senior stockbroking and listed company representatives.
When I moved to Sydney in 1984, after becoming a member of the Melbourne Stock Exchange, I became more involved with the Securities Institute and lectured and marked exams. I was also on the New South Wales education committee for many years, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Through my association with Brian Randall and Gwen Fletcher, who is considered by many people to be the founder of financial planning in Australia, I became heavily involved in the financial planning community initially being on the board of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and then in 1994 assuming the role of president of the FPA
I was one of the few industry participants to be a member of the ASX and also be a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) but that reflected my belief that stockbroking and financial planning were complimentary to each other.
There are many things that I enjoy about being in the stockbroking and financial planning community, but what I have enjoyed most over the years is training and educating staff, clients and the public.
My radio program on 2GB gave me a great insight into client’s aspirations, needs and fears. It was also a great way to attract new clients,
Every day is different in the stock market and there is always potential excitement and activity. I used to look forward to morning meetings to hear the latest ideas and plan the day ahead.
Besides, having satisfied clients, my reward has been to see staff members that I have trained move on to have careers far more successful than mine.
3. What led you to become a member of the SIAA and how has membership supported you or your business?
As I said earlier, my first exposure to the Securities Institute of Australia was via their advanced diploma course which stimulated my interest in the Industry.
Ever since then, I have kept an involvement with the SIAA and it’s predecessors and that has given me exposure to many important people in the investment world.
My first committee position in the investment world was on the SIA education committee and that was the start of a career that has seen me on numerous boards involving stockbroking, financial planning, securities regulation and complaints resolution.
But it’s also introduced me to many very promising young people as they look for guidance. Lecturing has also helped my presentation skills
4. What is the most valuable lesson that you’ve learned during your career?
“Know your client” and “Know your product” are the two most basic principals in investment advising but they are not only legal requirements but I have found them to be very practical rules to follow. My experience has been that when things go wrong it is usually because the adviser didn’t understand the client well enough or didn’t know enough about the risks involved in the product or strategy.
Be honest with clients and be prepared to give them bad news as well as good news. I’ve always found that is better that you tell a client any bad news before they hear it from some other source.
In a similar vein if you receive a complaint act on it straight away and try and resolve it as quickly as possible even if it may cost you. I’ve often found that a speedy apology may be all that is needed to satisfy the client.
In purely stock market terms, my mantra has always been buy in gloom and sell in boom which is something that’s very easy to say, but a lot harder to implement.
5. What do you enjoy doing to relax and unwind?
Now that I am retired, my family and grandchildren have become a bigger part of my life both at home and while travelling.
Apart from that I still enjoy watching all sports and playing tennis. If anyone would like to replace me as President of our tennis club please let me know!
I do still enjoy being involved in education and I love teaching people about the stock market which I continue to do through my SIAA workshops.
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