Financial Planner Life Podcast

  “18 years ago you were considered a bit of an oddball if you were talking about Ethical investments, today you’re an oddball if you don't talk about it!”   Today’s guest on Episode 36 of the financial planner life podcast is Steven Pyne, one of the founding partners at Holden and partner in London, a directly authorised firm with £500,000,000 of assets under advice.  We talk about why ethic...

🚨 Inspiring entry-level episode 🚨  This weeks episode is with Joel Carter from Rathbone Brothers  At 17 years old Joel Carter left the sixth form to pursue a career in financial services, like everyone else he was presented with obstacles to entry, but this did not deter him.   he was given the opportunity of work experience in an IFA practice; it was here that he met two Investment Directors fr...

🚨Inspiring leadership podcast alert 🚨  Todays guest is James Roberts from Partners Wealth Management   in the City of London.    James is one of the founding partners of PWM, and today he shares his journey from private banking to building a highly successful boutique #financialplanning company with c£2,500,000,000 AUM.    James is 100% dedicated to the client experience, and in his words “it is...

The mood always changes when I talk to financial planners about what they would do if they ran their own business, it becomes a creative, inspiring, and exciting conversation and I love being part of the process.  It has never been a better time to start your own business within financial planning!  The advice gap, advancements in technology, outsourced solutions, and with the power of social and...

“I set this business up to revolutionise savings and to give power to people who care about making a difference, not just for themselves and their loved ones but for the community as well”.  This week’s guest on the financial planner life podcast is David Macdonald, founder of The Path an ethical and positive impact-focused financial planning firm.  I 💚 David’s story, a chance viewing of the powe...

As the advice gap widens and a high proportion of advisers are set to retire over the next 5- 10 years it's now commonly accepted that we need to increase efforts to attract talent from other professions.  I personally find this very interesting, what transferable skills, attributes, and personalities are suited to financial planning?  So, when I got the opportunity to interview Daniel Wiltsh...

It's no secret that there is a growing adviser gap in the UK and we need new Financial Planners to join the profession and for firms to upskill the growing number of administrators and paraplanners that want to progress their careers into an adviser role.  there is a growing misconception that by achieving level 4 qualifications you can walk straight into a financial planning role, sadly this...

This week's guest on the financial planner life podcast is that Fabulous ( with a capital Fuh) Luiza Todd of Bespoke training solutions! It’s fair to say Luiza knows a thing two about passing Cii qualifications, over the last 16 years she's helped tens of thousands of students Pass their R0 exams. I really enjoyed this podcast, Luiza is passionate, funny, engaging, and straight-talking,...

This week's guest on the financial planner life podcast is wealth adviser Benjamin Beck from Nigel Grice and associates. Born and raised in Norway, Benjamin moved to England aged 21, and spent 6 years in the Army before starting a career in financial planning.  Let’s face it, getting into the financial planning profession without any experience can be difficult and confusing, and it was no di...

Lots of people ask me 'What's the best route to becoming a financial planner? should I start as an IFA administrator and work my way up to paraplanner and then step into the role of a financial planner,  or should I jump straight into a trainee financial planner role?  This week's guest on the financial planner life podcast is the recently level 4 qualified Hanna Hunt from Radcliffe...

 Is there an art to delivering training within financial planning?  Natalie Bell from the Art of finance definitely  believes so. This weeks guest on the financial planner life podcast is Natalie Bell  director of culture and engagement at the verve group and managing director of  ‘The Art of Finance’  The Art Of Finance delivers a blend of practical and technical training to aspiring compliance,...

“In Australia, I was an experienced Financial planner holding the equivalent of chartered status. However, when I moved to the UK that equated to 30 CII credits! I quickly realised I had to leave my ego at the door, retake my exams and adapt to the UK market.” And that’s exactly what Jason did, spending several years in a client relationship manager role, retraining and passing exams, and eventual...

This week’s guest on the Financial Planner Life podcast is Kris Amliwala from Designer Wealth Management.  Kris fell into the profession; he graduated university with a pharmaceuticals and cosmetic science degree with no interest in moving into financial services.  However, his family have owned a financial advice practice for over 30 years and, when an employee was unfortunately, ‘let go’, they a...

“I think the power of video and audio is that it allows you to connect with people, without actually realising that you are connecting”   This week’s guest on the Financial Planner Life Podcast is Peter Komolafe from The Conversation of Money, a podcast and a YouTube channel dedicated to sharing the truth about investing and all things finance.   One thing that really frustrates Peter is the rise...

This week’s guest on The Financial Planner Life podcast is Sarah Tucker, AKA the Mortgage Mum!   Sarah has a fantastic career story to tell that involves the likes of Olly Murs, will.i.am, Jennifer Hudson and Sir Tom Jones… Yes, she was a contestant on The Voice UK! And it was during this period of her life that she set up her own mortgage brokerage: ‘The Mortgage Mum’.   What became quickly appar...

on episode 20 of the Financial Planner Life Podcast your host Sam Oakes talks to Taylor Beavis of Universe Financial Advice.  Taylor is quite unique. At the age of 25, he is running his own directly authorised IFA practice. After speaking to several IFA business owners, he quickly established that client relationships are everything and having ownership of these will ensure that his business grows...

On this week’s episode of the Financial Planner Life Podcast, I talk to London-based Financial Planner Michael Donkor.  Michael started his financial services career as a personal banker for a leading high street bank before having a successful career in the high-pressure world of stockbroking in London, working his way up to team manager, before deciding to become a Financial Planner.  Like many...

This week’s guest on The Financial Planner Life podcast is Phillip Instone from PGI Financial Limited.  Phillip's early career started in Bancassurance, and nearly ended there. He wasn’t a fan of the high sales targets and lack of client care; we talk about the impact this had on his mental health and how leaving the bank and setting up his own directly authorised IFA practice was the best de...

This week’s guest on The Financial Planner Life podcast is Jessamy Walker, a Chartered Financial Planner and MD of Brown Dog Financial Planning.   Jessamy shares her career journey from counting sea urchins as a marine biologist in Kenya, to working as a Stockbroker in the city and eventually running her own financial planning practice.   Jessamy has vast experience of working within financial pla...

On this week’s episode of the financial planner life podcast, I’m joined by Robert Lewis who shares his financial services career journey, from starting with HBOS in the scanning department to eventually running his own directly authorised IFA practice Celtic Financial Planning.  We talk about the pressure of running a directly authorised IFA firm and why if you are thinking setting up your own pr...

Episode 15 of the financial planner life podcast with Sam Oakes. This Weeks Guest on episode 15 of the Financial Planner Life Podcast is Anthony Rowe who is an ex-professional basketball player turned Financial Planner.  Anthony first picked up a basketball at the age of 13, he quickly established himself as one of the top young basketball players in the UK securing a college scholarship in the US...

Episode 14 of the Financial Planner Life Podcast with Sam Oakes  My dad once said to me (after a skinful of cider & in front of all my mates)…   “Sam, you could’ve played football for England.”    Totes embarrassing, right?!    Thanks for the vote of confidence daddio, but in reality I was nowhere near professional level. In fact, the statistics are really sobering - less than 1% properly make...

On episode 13 of the financial planner life podcast wh Sam Oakes, I’m joined by jeremy Korn who is the CEO of Impact and Invest, a regulated Impact investment platform for financial planners and sophisticated investors.   There is approximately £17 billion invested in ethical funds in the UK. 78% of investors say ethical investing is more important to them now than it was five years ago, whilst al...

Sam Oakes from the Financial Planner Life Podcast interviews Catherin Morgan of episode 12 This week’s guest is Catherine Morgan who is a multi-award-winning financial planner, podcast host & financial coach at Money Panel.  Catherine’s career started in banking as a cashier, quickly rising through the ranks of bancassurance to sales manager, a detour into personal styling proved instrumental...

This week Sam Oakes talks to Tina Weeks on the Financial Planner Life Podcast.  Sometimes the universe presents people that become influential in your life and for me, on episode 11 of The Financial Planner Life podcast, Tina Weeks was one of those people.    I really enjoyed talking to Tina Weeks. Her passion and enthusiasm for the Financial Planning profession is beautiful; we need more women li...