Sweet FAs – What is a Financial Adviser?

“How do you know if you’ve got a good one until your roof starts leaking?”

Working in the industry, we did already know that there’s a low level of trust across financial services – changing this is a big part of what drives us.

We didn’t know, however (and we really should have, so hopefully you’ll thank us for sharing), that the average person on the average salary can benefit just as much from financial advice as the Beckhams can. The focus isn’t on the amounts being saved/invested, but actually on the fact that those savings and investments are tailored to you. In some ways, the average person who tends to do all this themselves has more to gain from financial advice. Let’s face it, as Cathi says, “the Beckhams don’t need to work out when they can retire”.

More myth-busting chat from Cathi and Jo during this episode has us looking at Financial Advisers very differently. Not as gynaecologists (Jo, please take note!). But as nurses, putting in long hours and with a caring nature; as plumbers, whose qualifications and regulators mean you can trust the work they’re doing; as life coaches, whose questions can help you discover your dreams; and finally as Robocop. Yes – bear with us here – when robo-advice gets talked about this is what we picture. But it works. The famous film’s tagline was ‘Part man. Part machine. All cop. The future of law enforcement.’ By the time this episode ended we were thinking:

Part man. Part machine. All personal. The future of financial advice.

Dan Moody from Intelliflo joins Cathi and Jo to talk about more modern changes in the industry, getting creative to remove barriers and to admit that he can also be slack with his own life admin. Phew, it’s not just us.

We really missed a trick not asking him to use his tech skills to develop a ‘filter by alcohol preference’ option to help in our online search for the perfect financial adviser!

What we didn’t miss, unfortunately for Cathi, is that there seems to be a pattern of calamity when she comes to giving real-life examples within the chat. Wrong trains and forgotten passports are just the start of things, believe us – we’ve heard the future podcast for further evidence!

We don’t think you should miss Cathi and Jo’s advice to their 18-year-old selves, so have a listen while we daydream about having a sommelier. Bet the Beckhams have one….

Give it a listen here.


About the Blog

When two of the funniest members of our board told us they were going to start a podcast, lots of high fives were exchanged (yes, we’re that kind of team).

We knew that Cathi and Jo (that’s Cathi Harrison, Director of The Verve Group, and Jo Campbell, Director at Para-Sols) would do a great job of helping with our vision to change the face of finance – the rebrand of all rebrands if you will.

And we weren’t wrong. Early into their podcast episodes, it was clear they’d live up to their promise of a fresh take on finance that’s informative, entertaining and understandable – no jargon here.

So, joining forces with the podcast, we give you ‘That Mint Blog’. Created to widen the conversation around each episode’s content, giving you insight from a team who can’t boast Cathi and Jo’s years of experience in finance, but who have gained a lot by working in the industry.

In short, this blog means the chats we enjoy with a cuppa as a team upon first hearing each episode are shared with you.

We’d love you to join in.

The Verve Group marketing team