What Makes the 'Right Fit' in Financial Advice? Finding an Advisor Who Gets You

Just last month, the FSC shared in a media release that the number of Australians requiring complex financial advice will grow by 70% over the next 25 years—from 4.3 million to 7.2 million.

Even with financial advisor numbers projected to increase in the coming years, it’s still a far cry from meeting the skyrocketing demand. With so many Australians needing advice, the challenge becomes making sure you find an advisor who is the right fit for you.

So what makes a ‘right fit’ exactly?

The answer will be different for everyone—because it’s about the synergy of who you are and who they are; your needs and their areas of expertise; and the way in which you’re wanting to work together.

Jes Wilkinson and I? We each bring our own strengths to the table for our clients.

??Jes’s superpower is her empathy. She has an incredible way of making people feel completely comfortable and free to ask all their questions. She finds joy in complexity—both in her dining experiences (she’s a big fan of molecular gastronomy) and in working with complex SMSFs, company, and trust structures. This makes her a natural fit for active or retired business owners, farmers, or professionals who are looking for truly strategic advice on complex matters.

??Like Jes, I’m also inspired by the idea that the role of an advisor is to create clarity where there’s complexity. Over the years, SMSFs, estate, and capacity planning have become major areas of interest for me. I re-charge in the bush birdwatching and walking while mulling over the big picture.

Naturally, these particular areas of expertise mean I’m a good match for clients in the pre-retirement and retirement phases of life.

Working closely with business owners and farmers over the years (and growing up on farms myself), I understand the nuances of the farming industry and the complex and financial structures that come along with it. Being the trusted advisor to my clients and facilitating those big conversations, often about legacy and plans for the next generation, keeps me energised.

While Jes and I are different in a lot of ways—she competes in competitive practical pistol shooting, I'm more interested in functional fitness; she’s a fan of nu metal, I’m a fan of new books—our unique perspectives make us stronger as a team and individual advisors.

We’re often consulting with each other on the big-picture strategies we’ve developed for our clients. When one of us comes up with a particularly effective way of explaining complex matters, the other will put it to work for their clients too, whiteboard markers and all.

And most importantly, we are both steadfast in our belief that taking a comprehensive approach to financial advice and truly looking at the big picture is the key to helping our clients achieve the things they deserve.

At the end of the day, finding the right advisor is about finding someone who truly understands you—your goals, challenges, family, and circumstances. Both Jes and I are here to guide you through the complexities and help you achieve the future you’ve worked so hard for—after all, hard work deserves success.