Money

The joys of being a self-employed adviser

Published

2 days ago

September 18, 2024

I’ve written some fairly grumpy, slightly pompous articles recently. So I promised myself that this time I would attempt to be brighter.

I do think my grumpiness has got something to do with this job — a hostile regulator on one side, bad actors on the other, and the rest of us squeezed into the middle, tearing each other apart over minor differences and perceived slights.

It’s a perfect case study in the narcissism of small differences: fixed fee versus ad valorem, independent versus restricted, planners versus advisers, active versus passive. Round and round we go, like a giant snake eating itself.

I get up when I want, walk my eldest to school and pop home for lunch with the rest of the family most days

But one thing our wonderful profession/industry (whatever!) affords us is the opportunity for self-employment. This is great, particularly for certain personality types, such as mine.

Looking back, I was a lousy employee. That’s not to say I did a bad job but more that I struggled to conform to the unwritten rules that come with a corporate hierarchy.

Work was like a parallel universe where social norms no longer applied. There was a different set of standards that no one had explained to me, and I was incapable of fathoming myself. Having left university feeling naively optimistic, I quickly grew cynical and found it difficult to motivate myself.

For years I plodded on — riddled with existential angst — until, by chance, I happened upon a presentation by a financial adviser. It wasn’t much of a pitch — he simply explained what he did, day to day (the challenges, mostly) — but I got the sense that he enjoyed the job and found it fulfilling.

Being a solo adviser or a small business enables us to adopt new ideas more quickly than the corporate behemoths stuck in their ways

One thing that stood out was the autonomy. This ostensibly ordinary man could decide what he did each day. He could set his work hours and pick who he worked with. There was no weird work protocol or toxic office culture to contend with. He could develop his own processes and work arrangements.

All being well, he could choose his own salary, depending on how hard he wanted to work. To me, he was free.

Pros and cons

Freedom does, of course, have its drawbacks, as many self-employed people will tell you. I’ve never worked as hard as I do now. Ironically, while I have the power to take time off when I wish, I take fewer holidays.

I’m borderline obsessive about the details affecting my business and I struggle to switch off. Meritocracy is also a double-edged sword, and there have been times when I’ve missed my reliable, comfortable corporate income.

There’s absolutely no need to compromise. The only physical infrastructure you need is a cheap laptop

That said, I’m never going back. Since I decided to go it alone five years ago, my wife and I have had two more children. We take the flexibility for granted, and my work and life patterns have become inextricably intertwined.

I get up when I want, walk my eldest to school and pop home for lunch with the rest of the family most days. There’s no question I would ever miss sports day or the school nativity. I rent an office in town and am home by 6pm. I could work longer hours (or fewer) but this balance works well for our family, for now.

Competitive minnows

For those tempted to take the leap, this is all eminently do-able. As I’ve written before, one thing that sets our profession apart is the fact that minnows like me can compete with huge national brands.

While some firms continue to flog the same, tired old model, others are adapting to find new ways of adding value and improving efficiency

In fact, we don’t just compete, we’re typically better and cheaper, too (a damning indictment on larger businesses and free-market economics in general).

There’s absolutely no need to compromise. The only physical infrastructure you need is a cheap laptop. Technology provides all the tools necessary to offer an excellent service.

Further, being a solo adviser or a small business enables us to adopt new ideas more quickly than the corporate behemoths stuck in their ways, both psychologically and operationally. With outdated systems and long, cumbersome chains of command, they lack the agility to move fast when the tide turns.

And the tide is turning. The advice profession has never been under such intense scrutiny. The days of running money for a slice of someone’s net wealth are numbered.

One thing that stood out was the autonomy. This ostensibly ordinary man could decide what he did each day

While some firms continue to flog the same, tired old model, others are adapting to find new ways of adding value and improving efficiency. The inevitable disruption will lead to further fragmentation, new cliques and fresh battlegrounds for us to fight over.

As a self-employed adviser, answerable only to myself, I look forward to the lively debates that follow.

And I will, on occasion, exercise my prerogative to spend a whole afternoon writing a grumpy, sometimes slightly pompous opinion piece for Money Marketing. For me, this is as good as it gets.

Dan Wiltshire is an independent financial planner at Wiltshire Wealth

This article featured in the September 2024 edition of Money Marketing.

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