‘There is a stigma around the term financial adviser for some’

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.

There needs to be more peer groups. I don't know if it is any different now, but I certainly found that when I was studying, I felt very alone.”

Nabarro explained there are different options such as certified financial planner, the Chartered Insurance Institute exams, the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment exams and the Chartered Financial Analyst.

“It would have been brilliant if somebody could have explained the difference and the routes they lead to early on,” she said.

“There was no real community of people who were studying for those exams and I think one thing that would have been really brilliant is actually understanding the difference between the exams.”

Since starting out, what’s changed?

“It's interesting because I am a relatively young adviser and have essentially been in this world post RDR it's definitely been a different landscape for me and my peers than some of the other advisers,” she said. 

Nabarro explained that the demographics of the clients now mean there are younger people who have a lot of money that needs managing.

They need help and advice, but there isn't really anywhere that's obvious to go and get it, she said.

“This is because financial advice traditionally has been for people on the traditional path and on the traditional life journey. You don't really have money to manage until you're significantly older.

“Typically, you're looking at people who maybe have a family businesses or they're in well paid industries, but actually now we've got people who are becoming really successful on Tik Tok and Instagram, so there's really different people coming for financial advice.”

She explained the main thing that's changed for her is what clients are asking for.

“When we get taught and when we train, it is very much about products and understanding the products, which is super important if you're going to do this job because often products are a big part of the work that we do,” she said.

“But now there are a lot of clients who need help and those products don't even come into it. 

“They might have families abroad and they're sending money to them back home, they might be getting paid in multiple currencies, they might want to know about car finance, they might have private assets, and other things that just haven't come into the IFA space.”

Where are we at with diversity in the industry?

“I don't want to be too negative about it and talk about how awful it is - we all know what it looks like, pale, male, stale,” she said.

“It's getting better. It's definitely getting better. I hope I am proof of that but there's a lot of work to do, there's just no doubt about it.”

She explained that one thing that really bothers her is the way it's sometimes perceived as a tick box exercise. 

“We need to have a person in Category A, B, C and D to tick our diversity and inclusion box and I think firms are really missing what that can bring,” she said.

“To me, it's just absolutely necessary for our communities and society that people see financial professionals that look like them but I don't think firms necessarily take into account how that might improve their own success because I have spoken to so many people who just assume that they couldn't possibly work with a financial adviser because they don't fit into that mould.”

If you own your own advice firm and would like to get involved with the Coffee Corner interview series, contact deputy news editor Sonia Rach via email at sonia.rach@ft.com