The Harrow-based adviser told FTAdviser he has watched countless friends and peers of his grow their businesses to a point where they are no longer speaking to clients and are instead spending their days managing teams.
But he does not want the same fate to befall him.
Having just set up his new firm, FortyOne Money, Varsani focuses on mortgage and protection advice, using partners to offer clients advice on products such as pensions, investments, conveyancing, and wills.
The idea, eventually, is to bring these partner services together under the same umbrella brand of FortyOne Money.
It’s easy to think ‘I should do this because everyone is telling me to’.Jiten Varsani, FortyOne MoneyVarsani said he used to be scared of passing his clients on to somebody else, but what he’s come to realise is that by remaining boutique in size and introducing partners, he can keep doing what he loves best until he retires, which is talking to clients.
“When you grow a firm, you move from being an adviser to a business owner,” Varsani told FTAdviser.
“You’re managing a team rather than talking to clients, that’s why I’m remaining a boutique versus hiring, say, 10 advisers.
“I’ve spoken to colleagues on growing business, some with 10 to 15 advisers. They often say they miss the interactions with clients, because they’re spending almost all of their time on compliance."
I don’t want to be an adviser that can only accept certain levels of income.Jiten Varasni, FortyOne MoneyVarsani said it’s easy to think ‘I should do this because everyone is telling me to’. Once upon a time, he thought he would have a firm with 20 advisers.
“But sometimes, as advisers, we have to ignore the noise and look at what we actually want to do. I don’t want to lose my interaction with clients, I really enjoy that part,” he said.
“I will remain a boutique, I won’t become a big firm with lots of advisers.”
In May, a handful of advice firms called for action from regulators and lenders to make it easier for them to remain independent against the backdrop of increasing consolidation.
A number of big firms have launched succession plans for IFAs nearing retirement - such as Evelyn Partners, Quilter, and soon M&G Wealth.
Meanwhile, firms such as Kingswood, Fairstone, and IWP have all been steaming ahead with small and medium-sized firm acquisitions.
‘People think I’m nuts starting a business now’
Varsani has built an office into his Harrow-based home in London. On the wall behind his desk is an array of certificates and collectables which he said includes a protection payout from Legal & General from the 1800s, which he bought on eBay.
“Some might say I’m a dork. But we’re established and we like history. Clients can see this passion,” said Varsani.
The new business owner has always wanted to push himself.
“My parents were hard-working. My dad was a fork-lift driver for 40 years. If I look at this sector, it only wants earnings above a certain amount. I don’t want to be an adviser that can only accept certain levels of income.”
Varsani founded FortyOne Money because he wanted something of his own. “I wanted to build something from scratch of my own.”
The firm is an appointed representative of London Money, Varsani’s employer for the past three and a half years.
“People think I’m nuts starting a business now, but my employer is happy for me to carry my clients over. That’s where the industry is broken - bigger firms trying to own clients.”
Fellow brokers have gone to court over the issue. One who went independent after working for Sequence, a subsidiary of estate agent behemoth Connells, was accused of breaching his restrictive covenant at the end of 2020.
A year and a half later, Connells was ordered by a county court to pay the broker it used to employ £8,000 due to being “unreasonable” in its litigation of the claim.
‘I was told I was being stupid by the IFA world’
Up until 2019, Varsani did cashflow modelling as an IFA. He then moved into mortgages and protection, having felt there was a big gap in how clients were served across the two ponds.
“I was told I was being stupid by the IFA world. Most people go from mortgage and protection to IFAs, not backwards. But I think I’ve side-stepped,” said Varsani.
His intention is to build a company which bridges a gap between these two worlds. The new business will officially go live in mid-September.
Varsani is taking a partner approach to his business. He already works with an IFA.
“With new products and regulations, it’s getting harder to be top of your game in everything,” he explained.
I openly say to prospects, I might not be right for you even if I worked with your brother, so do shop around.Jiten Varasni, FortyOne Money“You can either stitch yourself and dabble, or really focus on bits you know and partner up.”
“We used to be scared of passing clients to somebody else. One, you were worried they’d steal your client. I was trained by the banks - it was all ‘sell, sell, sell, don’t let anything out the door’.
“And two, you’d be worried - having built up a good relationship with the client - that somebody else could match that same communication and strain your relationship.”
But what Varsani has found is that clients respect him more for being transparent as to where his expertise starts and ends.
“All you’re doing is bringing experts into the process and project managing it. We’re finding it works well,” he said, before adding: “I openly say to prospects, I might not be right for you even if I worked with your brother, so do shop around.”
ruby.hinchliffe@ftadviser.com
