Hoxton Life

The Dangers of "Lifestyle Creep" in Dubai - with Dewi Evans

• Hoxton Wealth

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Dubai is a city of opportunity, but it’s also a city of temptation. Supercars, designer clothes, beach clubs—it’s easy to feel like you need to spend, spend, spend to fit in. Dewi Evans knows this feeling all too well.

In this episode of the Hoxton Life podcast, Dewi shares how he fell into the trap of lifestyle creep, where more money meant more expenses. But he also shares how he turned things around, learning to balance his lifestyle with his long-term goals. Now, as a financial planner, he helps clients across the GCC do the same.

We also dive into Dewi’s career journey, from starting as a paraplanner to becoming a financial planner under the mentorship of Lloyd Simpson. Alongside his career growth, Dewi found spiritual clarity in Dubai through practices like yoga, meditation, and sound bowls, which helped him stay grounded in a city that never sleeps.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

  • Why lifestyle creep is so common in Dubai and how to manage it.
  • The importance of mentorship in building a successful financial planning career.
  • How spiritual practices can help balance ambition with well-being.
  • The role of financial planning in creating a lifestyle that aligns with your values.

If Dewi’s story inspires you, don’t wait to take control of your finances. Reach out to him directly to start your financial planning journey today. And if you’re a financial planner looking for a community that shares your values, Hoxton Wealth might just be the place for you.

🎧 Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube, and subscribe to Hoxton Life for more insights into financial planning and personal growth.

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Speaker 1:

So you started in the UK trading in the city of London. Yes, yeah, Finished that, thought to yourself I've had enough of London, I'm going to Dubai, why Well?

Speaker 2:

Living and working in central London is intense. I often find a lot of my friends who are generally maybe younger, tend to have that career progression that maybe would take 10 years in the UK but here it's two or three. I think the main difference with our role is that we sit on your side of the table.

Speaker 1:

I'm super excited about the DIFC because Honest and Wealth are entering the DIFC this year.

Speaker 2:

I didn't come here to you know. Try and be a different version of who I am. I came here to improve my life, improve my family's life and actually build a career for myself.

Speaker 1:

You look at Dubai as this crazy kind of shiny object. You get drawn in by it. You get caught up in the whole kind of spend, spend, spend, spend, spend. I've done it in the five months that I've been here. And then you catch yourself. Jimmy, thanks for joining us today on the Hoxton life podcast. How are you?

Speaker 2:

I'm good, I'm good, thank you yeah, I had a very busy uh morning in the gym, so yeah, I can't complain good man.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I was up this morning, gave myself a nice little. Well, I was gonna set out to do a 10k run this morning. But you know, when you get going on a run yeah, and all of a sudden you've got a nice pace on, yeah, you think, well, I'm gonna go for a 5k here and try and do my fastest 5k yeah, yeah so I did that and, um, I've just taken running back up again and I shaved four minutes off my time this morning.

Speaker 1:

So very nice yeah, I came off the back of it feeling really pumped. So yeah, good happy days, it's a nice way to start the day is having a run.

Speaker 2:

Yes, having a workout yeah, it starts my morning ritual workouts, gets me set up for the day. My mind's clear yeah, um so yeah, sort of.

Speaker 1:

I think it's a healthy way to start 100 always do some of the toughest things you can do. Who wants to walk into the gym in the morning at 5 30 am and lift heavy weights? Yeah. When you're sat in bed, you don't want to do it. Yeah, there's something in that. Discipline isn't there, you know. It gets you up, it gets you going, it makes you do it. When, after you finish, there's a sense of reward yeah, you go into your day going. I've just tackled something that's really, really hard. At a point I didn't want to do it exactly and it's good for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sets you up for the rest of the day. If you've done something hard to start off with, hopefully the rest of the day is going to be a little bit easier. Yeah, that's what we hope let's do.

Speaker 1:

Hope, yeah, fingers crossed or easier to deal with. Exactly yeah, there we go yeah fantastic, so do.

Speaker 1:

Um, like I said, hoxton life podcast it's all about those that work within Hoxton, so we're sharing our journeys, our careers, our lives. So hopefully people who are watching it might be interested in joining Hoxton, might be interested in reaching out to you as well, maybe for some financial advice or some partnerships or just quite simply to connect with you on something like LinkedIn. Yeah, so, dewey, just tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.

Speaker 2:

So, as we've discussed, my name is Dewey, originally from the UK, worked in, started my career in London. Part of that was studying investment and financial risk. Then my career started working with a trading company and my journey has sort of led me out to Dubai.

Speaker 1:

Fantastic. So just tell us a little bit about what you're doing then at the moment.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I'm a financial advisor at Hoxton, so day-to-day dealing with clients' needs with regards to investment, financial planning and trying to generally sort of help clients out with any aspect of finance Cool.

Speaker 1:

So I've had 16 years working in recruitment. Um built a recruitment business, recruit uk, and I built the financial planner life podcast and um. We're always interested, I'm always interested. I think the profession as a whole is interested in attracting new talent we so desperately needed. The average age of an advisor is 55 years old. There's not enough younger people coming through. Yeah, you're a younger guy, you're under 30 years older?

Speaker 1:

yeah, yeah, that's a younger guy, mate yeah, yeah, I think so I'm always interested, like then, if we don't have enough young people getting into the profession, how did you hear about it?

Speaker 2:

um, yeah, it's a tricky one. I think it's very much an older, dominated industry. Um, whether that be, you know, if you're talking to a financial advisor, they might be in their late 50s, late 60s. So I think that appeal to a younger audience isn't immediate, um, just because it does have that stereotypical image. Um, so I hear about it from, uh, family friends, essentially. So I knew people that worked in the industry for a long time. My cousin ended up working in the industry in the States, so I think for me I was able to sort of see from an insider's perspective and understand what the role entails, as opposed to seeing the surface level if that makes sense um, and I found that very interesting, uh, just in terms of a career path and what part of financial planning.

Speaker 1:

Then, when you heard those stories and you listened to your family, what was the bit that kind of drew you in about the career? What was the thing that made you think, oh, actually, I'd like to do that or I'm suitable for that as a career I think it was the relationship aspect of the role, so the relationships with clients.

Speaker 2:

I very much enjoy that interaction. I enjoy the fact that it's not a job whereby you're sat at your desk 24-7. You're interacting with people and I find it very interesting to see people from different walks of life, maybe having similar issues with regards to financial planning, and be able to help, which is a really big thing, and it's very rewarding for me to start helping clients and then see how planning can make a positive impact a year, two years into the relationship. So, yeah, I find that a very rewarding aspect of the job.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, fantastic Dubai then. Okay, so you started in the UK. You weren't working as a financial planner in the UK, though, were you? What was it again you were doing in the UK?

Speaker 2:

So I was working for a trading company in the city of London. Trading in the city of london yeah finish that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, thought to yourself. I've had enough of london. Yeah, I'm going to buy why?

Speaker 2:

well, I think london is an intense city. Um, I've lived there for four years. Uh, living in, living and working in central london is intense. Um, there isn't that aspect of you know, being able to take a break. It's very much a culture of work, work, work, work, work, and when you get home you know it's a small amount of time where you can actually relax. The opportunity came my way to work in Dubai, so when I was relatively young I thought it would be a good opportunity to one broaden my horizons, see something different in the world, and that's actually paid off quite well. I gave myself a couple of months initially and seven years later it's stuck. So you spent seven years over here in Dubai. That's amazing.

Speaker 1:

All right, well, let's just break that down then. So the opportunity came up. What was your first opportunity in Dubai? What type of role was it? And if you could just take us through up until the point of, say, joining Hoxton, it will give our listeners a bit of an idea, really. We'll break it down a little bit.

Speaker 1:

I'll ask you a couple of questions, but we'll give us, our listeners, a bit of an idea of what's starting out really yeah without any experience in financial planning, looks like, yeah, in a in a, you know, in a in a city like dubai in the uae. Um, and why? Sometimes maybe you've got to make the right decision with the right company to be able to progress your career, because sometimes you can get out of some dead ends or you can fall off the edge of a cliff.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, or there's not the right support for people around you, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I'm resonating with a lot of those things. You're resonating with a lot of those things.

Speaker 1:

Good yeah. And then obviously you've ended up at Hoxton Wealth and for me it's about okay, well, why you know so great. So you came over from London, you come on over. What was your entry route into financial planning, then into BUY? What was the first opportunity?

Speaker 2:

So I think you know I studied investment management at university. It's quite a broad term, so understanding what path within finance to go down was quite difficult. The first opportunity that came my way was a trading company. I think it was a good opportunity to understand what I liked about that type of role and what I didn't like, and I think that pushed me towards a role that is more client focused and more client facing, rather than again being behind a computer for extended hours.

Speaker 2:

When I was approached by a company in Dubai to work as a sort of paraplanner business development manager, that aspect of financial planning became something that I found very interesting. So I think taking the opportunity and sort of taking a big risk not necessarily jumping different to a different industry, but a different type of role within finance is something that you need to do in order to figure out what resonates well for your goals and what you want to do in life. And then, obviously, when I started the role as the paraplaner business development in Dubai, it was a good sort of stepping stone to one understand the processes, everything that's required to be a financial advisor, even to little things like paperwork, and you know understanding what clients expect you to do as a planner. So I think understanding the base level of the role is super, super important to start with, and then that is obviously going to help you progress. Yeah, you know, in a healthy way, great stuff.

Speaker 1:

So you started in what, what is what is now being called a power planner role out here. But actually I, you know, I, I know the power planner role in the uk. Yes, uh, and I know the power planner role out here and, yeah, the the names are interchangeable, but the role is very different. Yes, yeah, um, like a power planner role out here encompasses administration. It would encompass client relationship management. Yeah, we also include often business development as well. Yes, so to me, the power planner role out here is almost like a trainee financial planner position you're always kind of being exposed to quite a lot of the process yeah

Speaker 2:

and almost quite quickly as well, yeah, I think that's a common theme in dubai. I think your career progression tends to be slightly faster because of that. You know that aspect of the job and I don't think that's specific to finance. I think that's across the board. I often find a lot of my friends, who are generally maybe younger, tend to have that career progression that maybe would take 10 years in the UK, but here it's two or three. So I think gaining exposure to all aspects of the business just adds a lot of value to you.

Speaker 1:

When you were trading in the UK, in London, were you trading? Were you client facing or were you in more of a back office type function?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it was. It was facilitating trading for clients essentially. So it was again a little bit of aspects of a bit of both. Yeah, but you know, being quite junior at the time, it wasn't the case that I was handling a lot of you know being quite junior at the time, it wasn't the case that I was handling a lot of you know.

Speaker 1:

Did that experience when you moved into that power planner role out here in your first job? Were the skills interchangeable? Was it easy for you to make that transition or was it almost a bit of a baptism of fire and thinking, oh my God, this is completely different.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think, again, it depends on how you apply yourself, and I'd like to think I'm quite a person who is adaptable relatively quickly. Again, we work under the umbrella of finance, so everything themes can be quite interchangeable. Yes, it's applied differently, but I think in cases like myself it was fairly easy to make that transition because in both sides of the role you're dealing with the end customer and the main goal for them is to facilitate the requirements essentially. So, whether that's trading or financial planning, you're making sure that the client's expectations are being met and in that power planner role we talk about client relationship management.

Speaker 1:

And that's the kind of angle that I want Hoxton to go down is like don't call it a power planner role, we talk about client relationship management. And that's the kind of angle that I want Hoxton to go down is like don't call it a power planner, call it almost like a concierge service, right, yeah, it reminds me almost of private banking. You've got your private banker and you've got your relationship manager who sits underneath it and builds those relationships. And the individual who's more business development focused, sitting down with clients, will be out there sort of hunting, hunting, hunting, yeah, and passes the client into an ecosystem where we give it that client experience. We improve that client experience. That client experience within its own right, if it's improved, makes the client more sticky. 100.

Speaker 1:

The client also feels like they're getting the concierge service that they're getting. Oh, look, there's the power planner, there's the client relationship manager and now there's an administrator, there's the financial advisor, there are all these people I can talk to about specific parts of my finances and they're keeping in contact with me, keeping me in the loop. And a big, big thing for us is this net promoter score that we're bringing in here at hoxton, and for me, an obvious part is the stickiness of a client. How do you make that client really, really sticky? Yeah, and I also think there's a huge opportunity in that space there as well for recognizing where we can add extra um advice to the client where else do they need a product or a service?

Speaker 1:

yeah, where can we add more value into that client journey? And often that's held in the ongoing relationship, the day-to-day bit, if you like, between the relationship manager. It doesn't have to be the financial planner. Then that feeds into the financial planner's book of business.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think so, and I think if you compare, for example, the banking industry, I think clients definitely have a perceived expectation of what the relationship is going to look like.

Speaker 2:

Based off of that, it's very impersonable.

Speaker 2:

You may be able to get through a robot on the phone, which does not help at all.

Speaker 2:

If you're lucky enough to have, like a personal banker, for example, you might have some experience in actually talking to a person who can resolve some sort of issue.

Speaker 2:

I think the main difference with our role is that we sit on your side of the table, so we're not necessarily tied to a specific product, a specific investment or bank, for example, which means that having instant access to an advisor who can one, actually understand what you're asking for, two, be able to have a solution for that and three, apply that solution, I think adds so much value and I think that's where I find a lot of grievances with clients is that it's can be a headache on times just to you know complete, simple things it's great, isn't it as well, when you start out in that type of power planner role, that entry level role that I consider to be almost like a training advisor role yes, it's great when you step into that type of position out here because you start to learn every aspect of the business yeah, how it works right, how you know how to get a client on the system.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, how to chase, for. You know letters of authority all these things right. You're doing all these things, but you're also exposing yourself to client scenarios, situations, problems and solutions. Yeah, and then you're also working alongside a financial advisor and hopefully that individual is going to be mentoring you. We talk a little bit about mentoring in a minute now in that entry-level role, that one you went into. How long did you stay in there?

Speaker 2:

so I was in that job, for that role, for about four years in total. Yeah, um, I think that is quite a good amount of time to actually one understand the role to understand, I mean, the industry as a whole. And three help you develop your own plan in terms of what is the next progression for me, just to sort of figure that out. What I tend to see in the industry is people will maybe jump to be a financial advisor because they want to, you know, rush to do so. They aren't successful because they want to rush to do so. They aren't successful because they haven't mastered the basics first.

Speaker 2:

So again, before coming into the industry, I didn't know what an LOA was, for example. I doubt many people do outside of the industry. But even being able to quite simply complete a form, know where to send that sort of type of document and understand the whole process behind that, you know you're gonna you're gonna struggle to do that client facing if you don't know the process especially if you're doing absolutely everything, which exactly a lot of the financial planners, when it came out here, yeah, traditionally would do.

Speaker 1:

It's like even having a power planner now. It's quite novel. It's quite new really in this national space. Yeah, because of the emphasis was always really on self-employment. You're doing everything. If you uh take somebody on as an administrator or a support staff that's coming out of your split, if you like, yeah, of business coming in so often people would just do absolutely everything. Yeah, I think the problem you also have is if you don't expose yourself to the client journey, if you don't expose yourself to every aspect of that business, you're going to be setting really unrealistic expectations, not only on yourself but on the client as well. Yeah, and also you're gonna be under pressure. Yeah, you're under pressure. You're gonna be sell, sell, sell, sell, sell. It's not what you want to be doing in financial planning it's not what the profession is about.

Speaker 1:

It's certainly not what hoxton wealth is all about. Right, we're not on about pushing products and selling things to get money in to pay the bills. It's not a. It's not a and that's the reputation, isn't it, that the industry out here has had. Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

And I think that is a legacy issue. I think maybe that was the case of the industry 10 years ago, but by no means is that. The focus or emphasis for clients now is very much on how can we keep clients happy so that they're lifelong clients, not just a transactional relationship.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk about mentorship. Then In that first four years, was there anybody that stood out to you, that really supported you?

Speaker 2:

So one of the financial advisors that I worked for starting off was Lloyd Simpson. He has been quite a pivotal person for me, um, not only as a mentor, but just as sort of yes, we're now very good friends. So I think having somebody who has been in your position or is senior in their position, being able to give you guidance, being able to answer questions that you have in a non-judgmental way, which is quite key yeah, um, I think it just enables you to grow a lot faster because you know you can. You can bounce ideas off of each other, you don't feel like you're asking stupid questions and they're able to sort of nudge you in the right direction without doing it for you if that makes sense, makes total sense.

Speaker 1:

What makes a good mentor, though? Like, and also what makes a great mentee? Yeah, that's a good thing. Often, some people go right well, that's my mentor, but no one's going to introduce as your mentor. Yeah, to be introduced to the fact you're going to be working with someone quite closely, right. Yeah, but from your position on your side of the fence, what do you think makes a great on? Quite closely, right, yeah, but from your position on your side of the fence, what do you think makes a great mentee? Yeah, like, how should you approach your mentor or, um, the financial planner that you're working with and supporting? How, how best to deal with that person to get the best results from your mentor?

Speaker 2:

I think leaving the ego at the door is pretty key. Yeah, um, whatever stage of life you're in, you might think you have all the answers. I know I definitely did at 21, um, but being able to again, not necessarily have an ego when you're having those sort of conversations enables you just to be a sponge and absorb information, as opposed to thinking you're right, and that might cause friction on times when somebody is genuinely trying to help you. You might not see it from where you're sat now because that person has, you know, lived it. So I think, again, just being able to drop the facades, you know, drop whatever walls you have, and just being able to listen and learn is key.

Speaker 1:

So you spent four years then in that company. Lloyd was there at that business as well. So obviously four years. You left, right? Did you both leave at the same time? Did you go together as a team? Yeah, so again.

Speaker 2:

I think we've moved at the same time, you know, throughout my career. So I think for us we the same time, you know throughout my career. So I think for us, we had reached a point at which, you know, our career wasn't growing at the pace we wanted. Looking at alternative companies in the region and trying to see where the company could provide the most value for clients was a key thing for us and I think we just sort of made that decision together. It was the point in my career whereby I felt it was time I needed to step up to be an advisor, and Lloyd was really helpful in that process One just to give me an idea of what that process looks like, but just being able to give the simple support of how's things going. You know a simple question.

Speaker 1:

I think as well, and that's an interesting point because when you're in a supporting function of a financial planner who's invested heavily in your time, energy, effort, training and development to do a role that supports that person right to be able to go out and write more business, offer better services to their clients I can imagine there's a massive reluctance from the financial planner to give that person up right.

Speaker 1:

And it takes a certain type of person to be able to upskill, train and develop to know that they want to progress onto becoming a financial planner and not controlling and keeping that person down if you like in a role that might no longer be adding value to them and their aspirations and career goals. How did you approach that conversation together? Was it always understood that you wanted to become a financial planner?

Speaker 2:

Yes, so we I think we pretty much probably had that conversation on day one. Um, I think lloyd was very uh, he was a prominent figure to actually push me to want to, you know, reach that next step um, but I think even it can be seen that I may be leaving his sort of like ecosystem.

Speaker 2:

I'm leaving his support system but because we have always worked very close together. As Lloyd's clients have become wealthier and as Lloyd's has, you know, dealing with more complex cases, he doesn't necessarily have the time to, you know, talk to a client who might be a little bit smaller or doesn't require as much attention as he can provide. So I think think it's more of a working relationship whereby I can step in and actually help those types of clients now and we're still keeping it within that sort of ecosystem, if that makes sense Like almost a mini practice.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you've got a mini practice together. Like partners, you're working together, right? Yeah, lloyd's obviously progressing within his career. He's been working with a certain type of client and perhaps he's got aspirations to work with clients with a million pound plus. Yeah, right, and that's cool and that's great, because we all want to work with a certain client that we want to work with. They have different complexities, different situations in their life, and also it means that you are maybe building a client book where you have 50 clients You've got a million quid, you know, invested happy days. It's a nice book, isn't it, you know, and that's fine. So segmenting those clients is wondering what to do with them when you want to push forward, because you can't keep servicing more and more clients, exactly.

Speaker 2:

So it's a great way to then off load those clients not offload, because that sounds terrible yeah, but pass them on to somebody within the micro practice yeah, within a practice to take over, and that's where you found your feet and that's where you guys are working together really well, exactly and I think the important thing is, for example, the clients that he might not be able to service or work with as closely as he used to, he still has contact or he can still speak with those clients. Even though I might be handling the day-to-day relationship, it's very it from a client's perspective. They still have both of us, which I think is quite important and I think gives clients a lot of comfort knowing that you know both of us are working for them as opposed to the one goes back to that kind of almost concierge service, doesn't exactly?

Speaker 1:

you know, it's great, you know, if I walk in a room and someone says, here's your power planner, here's your administrator, here's a client relationship manager, I'm your financial planner and, by the way, here's the app or here's this and the other. All these extra tools, all these extra people around will make me feel really special.

Speaker 1:

But I have got humans that are dealing with me in every aspect of what's going on, so I'm being looked after it's a really, really powerful tool for a financial planner to be able to deliver the the fact that there is a team behind you and it's not just you and I love that. I go back to dropping that ego thing. It's not just you. There is a team behind you actually holding the business together, especially within financial planning. Plenty of people. And do you know, should we be talking about the, the fantastic compliance manager that we have? Should we be talking about the person who's going to put your reports together and send them out?

Speaker 2:

yeah, I think we should. Yeah, absolutely, there's a, yeah, there's a literally a whole company working so you know help, you get where you need to be so?

Speaker 1:

yeah, exactly that, and they're in safe hands. There's plenty of nets. So if anything was to go wrong or if something was to happen, you know it doesn't fall through the cracks.

Speaker 2:

You know a good, A good example. You know, one of my clients recently got hacked Right, so there was a big concern that what's going to happen to my investments. I think the way we are set up in terms of the company structure, there's a lot of safeguards. It's not like somebody can, you know, with a bank, for example, hack your bank account or, you know, copy your credit card number and it might be easier to access the funds. There's a lot of safeguards with our type of job. They have to contact me, they have to get through compliance. You know there's many, many layers of a safety net that will just mitigate any type of risk like that. Not in every company, Not in every company no, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think that might maybe unique to Hoxton Maybe unique to Hoxton.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I think with the app and we're going to fast forward a little bit here actually into the world of Hoxton right now because it's a great opportunity to do so we're seeing such huge development around that app, not only for client experience and the speed that somebody could actually invest their money. I mean, we're all massively excited this year about the one-day client, and a client being able to go in, download the app, go into it and invest within one day is absolutely amazing. I mean, at our conference this week we talked about how there's 20 signatures required to go through the process of becoming a client at Hoxton. Right In the app there's one signature, one tick box, and it can be done like that. Simple little things like that give the customer confidence that we're able to look after them and we're able to do and deliver and react and respond to any situation that might arise through the app instantaneously yeah and that's peace of mind, because if I'm sat on my sofa, I've just ordered a pizza that's come in 15 minutes.

Speaker 1:

I might want to sit on my sofa flick through how my assets across the world, yeah are actually doing and if I want to contact somebody, if I want to complain about something, I want to talk to somebody, I want to get some reassurance, but I can do that through my app and it's hugely, hugely important. One of the things I'm massively, massively excited about with Hoxton Wealth is that development of that app.

Speaker 1:

It's not really in my head an app, it's Hoxton yeah, yeah for sure yeah, yeah so like, if you visualize business like hoxton right, we visualize a financial planning company you shouldn't have almost a separate app. It should be. That's just the business, that's how we do business, that's how we operate. Yeah, and that's that's the bit that excites me the most.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's definitely coming from an industry where it is inherently slow. Yeah, whether it's a private bank, whether it's a traditional bank, any investment house, the process can be painful on times and being client-facing, I know all about how frustrated clients can be in that process. So being able to one, just to be able to develop the technology to make that simple task easier and being able to deliver that sort of product to clients, I think is a game changer in our industry.

Speaker 1:

That's the word I was about to say. It's game changing, yeah, fantastic. Well, let's go back into the past again. Okay, so four years, you made a decision to move on. Okay, did you go to Hoxton or did you go somewhere else?

Speaker 2:

Went somewhere else. So I worked in the company in DIFC, yeah, um. So again, I think that was a very good point in my career, whereby I was able to learn a lot, take a lot of information from the company and understand the role in more depth again, yeah, um, you know, I was exposed to a lot of different types of clients. So again, it's understanding not everybody has the same requirements, not everybody has come from the same place. So being able to provide a personalized service is dependent on listening. You need to listen to your clients, you need to understand what their concerns are, what their goals are, and being able to create a plan that's specific to themselves. So I think that was just a growth phase for me in terms of my career. So that was within the difc.

Speaker 1:

So for those that don't know what the difc actually is and why it's quite significant in dubai and what goes on in there. Do you want to just give us a bit of a breakdown?

Speaker 2:

yeah, so that's just the um, the investment freehold area, uh, within the uae, uh, so you have the similar in Abu Dhabi. It's just the Dubai version of the regulator regulated entity within the Middle East. So you'll often find that's the central hub for a lot of banks, a lot of private banks, any sort of institution that you know works within that field, essentially being within the DIFC.

Speaker 1:

Did it give you more credibility, more marketability? Did you feel more well? You know I'm definitely a, definitely a financial advisor because I'm in the financial district how did it make you feel? Did it help you win more clients? Tell me a little bit about that.

Speaker 2:

Um, I think maybe from an ego perspective, yes, it's good to feel like you're in a hub, but from a client perspective, it didn't enable me to do more with my clients. Compared to other companies. It felt like a place whereby it might be easier to talk with different institutions, but that isn't necessarily a business to customer relationship if that makes sense 100%.

Speaker 1:

So when you actually spoke to these customers. For instance, you mentioned that you're in the DIFC and you're dealing with the wider GACC as well, clients that are over here, international clients and local clients as well. Yeah, did they even really care about the DIFC? Did they understand it enough to be able to go? Ah, okay, I'll deal with you because you're in the DIFC.

Speaker 2:

I think it's definitely a tick box. Okay, I think clients understand it and know the area, whether that's just because they're going out for dinner there on the in the weekend, um, but having that recognition, yes, it might be something that okay, that sounds good, but I didn't. I don't feel like, from a client perspective, there's a a deeper understanding as to why there is that recognition, so sort of a yes and no answer to that good because, from an educational perspective, I'm super excited about the dFC because Hoxton Wealth are entering the DIFC this year.

Speaker 1:

So for me I'm super excited about that and the very fact that perhaps the clients don't quite understand the significance of being in the DIFC outside of going out for a nice meal, restaurant, bar, because it's a fantastic area to go out and hang out right. I want to create a documentary. I want to document our journey here at hoxton into the diafc and why that's significant and why that is actually a fantastic milestone as a company. Yeah, but why that also should give credibility to our clients. Yeah, but it also builds credibility, as you put earlier, with some of those fantastic organizations that are in the ifc the legal entities, accountancy firms, these financial services firms where there are a lot of high net worth individuals working within those business. There are a lot of well-connected people and I think as a business we want to connect with them.

Speaker 1:

We want to build partnerships. So we want to showcase who we are. We want to go into that DIC with a bang and say we're here, we're here to do business and we're good guys and we are a true fee-based financial planning business, multi-jurisdiction, and we're here to help. You've got the St James's, you know, you've got St James's Place and all of that in the DIFC, so being able to go in there and say we're here, we yeah, by the way, we're in south africa and australia, I think I'm super excited about creating that like a documentary, about that entry point into it, showcasing all the different types of personalities and people that we have and the solutions that we offer, not just for those clients and aiming at other clients, but to be aiming it at building stronger partnerships yeah, so we establish ourselves within that ecosystem, as true thought leaders.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think it's uh again. From the client perspective, it's a good opportunity to actually want to educate them about how the DAFC can potentially benefit them and how exploring different options can add value to the proposition that they already have. And I think when you compare a lot of companies that I worked with, a lot of the banks that I've worked with, they might not have that cross-border piece or they might not be able to, you know, give the personalized advice. It's more focused on package products, which isn't always in the benefit of the client. So having our business model in that jurisdiction, I think, is just going to, you know, be beneficial for clients.

Speaker 1:

I think is just going to be beneficial for clients. Perfect. So you were in the DIFC ego, absolutely huge, loving it, yeah, okay, but you didn't stay. No.

Speaker 2:

How come I think I'd reached a point in my career whereby I needed to put my client's needs first. So, going back to the technology side of things, a lot of my clients are asking for certain features from me as their financial advisor which I couldn't facilitate, and I think that puts you in a position whereby you need to do some self-reflection. If I'm not being able to do things for my clients that I would like to, where else is offering those facilities, those features that one is just going to make my connection with the client stronger? That's when, you know, I spoke with Hoxton and it just again ticks a lot of the boxes, not only for me in terms of you know my process, but also the features that I could bring to clients the app, the internal processes, the multi-jurisdiction offices. Not many people have that.

Speaker 1:

No, absolutely. We're ticking boxes and we're offering solutions and we're investing heavily in that, which means we're constantly evolving. Yeah, can I just ask you a question, because it's something I always ask people who have decided to join Hoxton? I spoke to somebody yesterday who has sold their business to Hoxton. We talked about Dubai, we talked about the Dubai office. I described it as the heartbeat of Hoxton. You walk into that business and you walk into that floor if you like, and it was nothing like I thought it would be, because I came from the uk over to here.

Speaker 1:

16 years recruitment never really had a very positive image of what international financial advice was yeah I walked into that business over here and I was blown away by the energy and just how hard that heartbeat was beating yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

What was the? You talked about a few things like technology et cetera, but when did it kind of drop for you. What was your perception of Hoxton before you actually joined? Them to, yeah, what was your perception of Hoxton before you joined, but when was it kind of made you go, wow, okay, this is where I actually want to be. Was it when you met him face to face? Was someone presented? Wow, okay, this is where I actually want to be. Was it when you met him face to face? Was someone presented? Were you shown?

Speaker 2:

something. What was the main thing, do you think? I think it was definitely going into the company and seeing the people. I didn't expect it to be as open, friendly and sort of quite diverse as it is. My hesitation initially was that it's just going to be the same as every other company in the industry and you know how will that play out. You know that's my main concern was.

Speaker 2:

But I think it was a case of talking to people in the office and actually understanding it's nothing like that. That was a big sigh of relief for me to see that it's very collaborative. As I've been in the company, I've faced issues that I might have not had exposure to in the past. So just being able to talk to somebody across the row or across the office to easily just give me some advice or give me some helpful information is just a breath of fresh air, because in other companies there are a lot of barriers and egos that might not people might not want to help you or they feel like it's maybe below them to you know, help you or give you some support, whereas you know that's just not the case at hoxton love that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So ego, no ego. One of our rules is no ego and no dickheads, apparently. Yeah, yeah so so no ego. How do I slip in? Yeah, so no ego, no dickheads. And collaboration, not competition. There isn't this kind of hierarchy there. Of course, there are people that are in senior psych positions. You do need people who are in management positions and leadership roles and all that kind of stuff. However, there is this open, friendly, helping, supportive culture. Yeah, and you've, you yourself were probably kind of fearful of maybe going into a business where you know you are ostracized or something or pushed to one side and you're not included, right?

Speaker 2:

yeah, yeah, I think so. Um, again, it's being a new person to a company is always stressful wherever you go, so being made to feel to be very welcome is just such a again a brush of fresh air in our industry and I think that's just resulted in a lot of benefits to my clients. So, for example, we've got our internal trust team who've been able to help some of my clients set up wills within a first couple of months being at the company. Having that option and facility available adds so much value to that client who might not have done it in the past. Having the tax team internally, just being able to have that conversation very quickly with a client, means that, one, we are adding a lot of value, uh. Two, we can handle their concerns quickly. And three, just takes a lot of stress off of clients because trying to deal with us, the financial advisor, then talk to a tax team who might refer it to another company. It is clunky, it's not, you know, efficient.

Speaker 1:

Yeah so you're experiencing you are actually experiencing what we're saying that we do have a higher level of support within our business and that we are building out those infrastructures to be able to create an environment that is supported. Financial advisors exactly.

Speaker 2:

Yes, uh, you know everything that is is on the packaging. Yeah, that's exactly how it works. What?

Speaker 1:

it says on the tin exactly good, that is very good to hear. Obviously you'd say that on a podcast I mean yeah, but no it's I.

Speaker 1:

I don't believe that. I genuinely believe that's exactly. You've gone out and you've seen and you've worked with different companies over the years. You've gained experience, right, you see now, hopefully, the good, the bad and the ugly, and I hope we're on the good side of things here at hoxton wealth and, um, that's a really good thing. Um, you talk about the client experience. You're very passionate about relationships, right, as am I. I love it. That's my life, where I sit all day talking to people and hoping that they, you know, are having a good life. I love that kind of concierge and relationship building side of the business.

Speaker 1:

Um, building clients is difficult, uh, you know, in any role, okay, because it takes a certain type of business development. Or you're working alongside a financial advisor and there's all these different elements that are involved. How do you convince, say, a client that they do need financial planning that is beneficial, to pay a fee, for example? We're a fee-based financial planning business. What's your approach to business development out here? We are an international company, so we're, you know, most jurisdiction. You can work with people across the world as long as you're qualified. Yeah, what's your approach? And how are you sort of niching down and what's your style approach to actually building a client book.

Speaker 2:

So I think it's quite important as a financial advisor to know where your interests lie in terms of the client's experience. Do you want to focus on again, because we're international? Do you want to focus on the Australian market? Do you want to focus on the UK market, us? I think that's a good starting point because you can then hone in on those specific concerns within that region and offer a better service. So I think that's the focal point of that approach.

Speaker 2:

Being able to provide a good service to those sorts of clients will mean that the relationship is good, they're happy and ultimately, that means you're likely to get more referrals, which is a really, really big part of not only you know my business, but the business as a whole. So I think that's a key focus is just honing in on that skill and being able to deliver the best service possible. Outside of that, I think it's a case that you know relying on marketing. We spend a lot of money on marketing. We do, and that again adds credibility to the brand, which, in turn, I think, creates a more trustworthy company that people want to work with.

Speaker 1:

We had somebody join a business recently and they were actually involved in setting up the paid-for advertising for another wealth management firm that we're based out in Dubai. And, anyway, we did a presentation from the marketing team say welcome to the business. Advertising for another wealth management firm that were based out into buy and um. Anyway, we did a presentation from the marketing team say welcome to the business. This is what we do. This is how we support you as a financial advisor. Uh, he was blown away by the fact that we do five times the amount of lead generation, yeah, that he was doing within his business. He's like, oh my god.

Speaker 1:

So when you put that into perspective, we spend an awful lot of money on marketing. Yeah, generating leads, paid advertising, social media advertising, podcasting and this year is no different. Having the budget signed off recently not as much as I wanted, but as their budget signed off recently we're going to make some incredible content and we we are heavily invested in in marketing and we're going to be heavily invested in events. Anything we can do to support our financial planners is key, right, because a you need to be fed, but you need to be supported and you need a brand behind you that makes you look credible yeah, um, and that shows you're innovative and that things are moving forward.

Speaker 1:

We've been hired a fantastic person to come in and start marketing the app and actually work in the way that we market the app, differently to how we might market our business and our services. So it's it's for me, it's really, really exciting, and the only thing I can see on the back of that is a byproduct is more loyalty, more trust, yeah, and more engagement with our clients. So we should be getting more people coming on. So what a wonderful time to join a business like hoxton wealth. As we do that, as we go into the dfc, we invest more money in marketing. We invest more money in lead generation. You touched on being supported by the business developers as well in the business, so tell us a little bit about how that relationship works with you and why that's beneficial.

Speaker 2:

Yeah so I think the structure that uh hoxton has is very unique in terms of a centralized business development team. It's full of guys that are very, very well motivated and work collaboratively with advisors. So I think having that dynamic and being able to actually work with a business development manager very closely can help you again specify what sort of clients you want to work with, to help you again just honing on your skill and help you just improve your overall business essentially. But the guys at Hoxton working in the business development team are, you know, fantastic Good.

Speaker 1:

Good to hear. Now I want to touch a little bit on your life in Dubai, your experiences in Dubai. Okay, I've come over here for five months. Your life in Dubai, your experiences in Dubai. I've come over here for five months and I can see how easy it can be to get caught up in the whirlwind of Dubai and opulence and spending lots of money, consumerism. You can't turn a corner without having to spend some money. It's like living in a theme park, right? So tell me a little bit about your journey. Yeah, tell me about your journey. How has that affected your relationship with money? How has that affected your, your well-being, and have you seen a shift in that at all over the years that you've been here?

Speaker 2:

yeah, I think dubai is, uh is, a unicorn, uh, in the world. It's a great place because there's a lot of people with with money, and probably the unique thing about Dubai is that people will happily, you know, flaunt that on a day-to-day basis, whether that's you know, going to a grocery store, see somebody pulling up in a Lamborghini, or you know somebody spends a lot of money at a beach club. You can take that with one or two ways. You can either see it as very aspirational and say you know, if I do work hard and if I do achieve certain goals, I can get that. You know, it's very. If they can do it, why can't I? The flip side of that is let me try and live that sort of lifestyle now and maybe live beyond my means, which I think may be specific to British, but a lot of British people try and live that lifestyle when you know, the main reason they've moved here is to try and improve their overall life by increasing their salary, saving, investing, all that sort of stuff. So I do see, you know, people try and keep up with the Joneses. They do try and be a type of person that they might not are ready to be now, um, and I think it tends to be the case for a lot of people a lot of people get trapped in that.

Speaker 2:

I think I was a little bit as well when I first joined the uae. I think it's very easy to get sucked up into that circle. But I think, going back to my personal journey, it's taking a step back and understanding why I came here in the first place. I didn't come here to you know, try and be a different version of who I am. I came here to improve my life, improve my family's life and actually build a career for myself. Those sort of things don't align with that path. So I think it's it's being aware of where you are right now in terms of your, your life. If that doesn't align with what your goal is, then maybe it's it's time to take a step back, re-evaluate and understand what the best path is moving forward fantastic.

Speaker 1:

And do you find that with your clients as well? They come into you with that lifestyle creep type problem. You know where they are overspending and they haven't thought about perhaps investing for the future and maybe they don't fully understand exactly the things they might be missing out by being here in dubai and what they're not getting from the uk and they're not thinking about the long, the long term right, and the impact that it has, because there are some crazy stats out there that people come to dubai and leave poorer than they were. Yeah, you know it's actually detrimental for them. Yeah, which is kind of bizarre, but you can understand it now living here, the lifestyle creep. There is lots of shiny objects around and you can get shiny object magpie syndrome. It's very easy. We're only human and we're driven by rewards and when you see it all around you at the moment, you think, well, I want a piece of that. Why haven't I got that? So you start to creep on up, yeah, but also like the.

Speaker 1:

The lending is cheap here for sure, right? The house market is slightly different. It's, like you know, it's a bit similar to the uk like you need 30 deposit, yeah, and they're quite. You know, I've been looking around and it's quite, quite chunky to get yourself a decent house here or apartment or something like that, right? However, credit cards and things are very easy to get and they're very easy to throw at you and the let in the borrowing rate on it is very cheap. It's saying the cars and stuff like that, isn't it? So, yeah, you and you're just okay, I'm tax-free.

Speaker 2:

I'm tax-free, exactly you start to fall into that trap?

Speaker 1:

yeah, you've seen that a lot with the clients that you've dealt with and are you being sort of? Is that part of your process as well is to educate and create this way of maybe kind of approaching a subject which is quite sensitive, because people don't really want to talk about their overspending, because they feel ashamed of themselves and guilty, right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that again goes back to maybe like my personal style as an advisor. I would like to think I'm very close to you, know all my clients and being able to have those open and honest conversations is so crucial because, again it's, I can't do my job if I know half the information. So being able to build that trust and being able to have a relationship whereby we can talk about those uncomfortable things is critical. You know uncomfortable things is critical. You know, being able to talk to a client and help them understand that this type of behavior isn't constructive, as opposed to looking at an alternative where it is more constructive, and being able to visually show those differences is really important.

Speaker 2:

And I think that goes back to, again, hoxtonxton. We're talking about a lot, uh, but the technology we've got a hoxton. We incorporate that a lot in the app. So being able to model out different scenarios in the financial journey helps clients understand that actually, this is not a good behavior for me to carry on for the next 10 years. If I make some key adjustments now, 10 years, I'm going to be a lot better off.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, look, touching back on that app, it's worth. It's worth mentioning because, look, we want these types of tools at our fingertips, we want to know how to use them and once they're educated the client, and they've logged in and know how to use it, they can do cash flow forecasting themselves. They can do wealth planning themselves. Yeah, they can put in all their assets, wherever they are in the world, into that app and they can monitor it and keep an eye on it and, you know, touch base with you when they need human interaction, and I think that's just just hugely powerful, and any financial planner that doesn't have that within their business right now are mental. Yeah, and they should be joining hoxton wealth. Yeah, yeah, just make sure you come through me so I get a nice little, nice little commission.

Speaker 1:

Um, we've had a conversation off podcast about spirituality and about well-being and we share a lot of values within that, and I found it very um grounding to have a conversation with another guy in the office who enjoys the conversations about working on themselves, self-reflection and spirituality. Um, can you be a spiritual person in dubai? It seems like kind of. It seems crazy because it's mad, isn't it as well, because it's a muslim country. You know it is a spiritual country, but at the same time, you look around you and it's got all the decadence and it's got all the temptation of the things that you think like can can take you off track and and and ultimately can lead you to a bit of misery. Yeah, you know, can lead you to misery. What do you do to look after your well-being? And have you had a spiritual awakening in Dubai?

Speaker 2:

I think again, yeah, like you rightly said, it can be a place of contrast, so people don't automatically assume that this is a place where you know you can be a spiritual person. The good thing about Dubai is that you have access for a lot of different types of things. You know we mentioned like beach clubs and nice restaurants, but on the flip side, there's a lot of places where you can work on yourself. It's an incredibly healthy place. So if you want to work out every day, if you want to do the best work, workouts and exercises in the world, it's at your fingertip. Recovery, you know working on yourself physically is is really important me.

Speaker 2:

So having things like ice baths, saunas, all that sort of stuff that is just very much at the forefront of I think the culture in Dubai adds a lot of value.

Speaker 2:

And then I think that naturally progresses into I'm looking after my body, I'm looking after my finances, I want to look after you know my mental health as well, and I think a lot of men don't necessarily talk about that, especially maybe in the Middle East as well. So how can I, you know, take care of that? And I think there's a lot of people in Dubai who can help you understand the options available to you, whether that is meditating to different things like sound baths, Reiki, all that sort of stuff. You've got a lot of things here that can help you at least just understand you know your wellbeing in a little bit more detail. Whether you act on that, you know it might be a different thing, but I think you know a lot of people talk about that and I think a lot of people now you know actively be a different thing, yeah, but I think you know a lot of people talk about that and I think a lot of people now you know actively pursue that sort of thing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you almost like you know, you look at it by, is this crazy kind of shiny object. You get drawn in by it. You get what? You get caught up in the whole kind of spend, spend, spend, spend, spend. I've done it in the five months that I've been here, in the one one, one, one one, and then you one and then you catch yourself.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, god, there's got to be somewhere where I can get grounded. There's got to be somewhere I can go where there's a community of people that, yeah, they appreciate the good things in life but they also appreciate looking after themselves and being like spiritually healthy, mentally healthy and physically healthy, overall wellbeing, financially healthy. That's where we're getting involved. Yeah, hoxton wealth, hoxton health right yeah absolutely so.

Speaker 1:

Finding those people can often be tough, right and finding your tribe. Have you found it difficult to find the tribe here? Is it here and where do you find it? And are people friendly? So if people are thinking about coming out to dubai and living here, maybe they're coming on their own and friendship and companionship and community is important. Is it here and where can they find it and how have you found it?

Speaker 2:

I think a lot. You know when you, when you move to a different country, everybody's in that same boat. You know everybody has taken that initial step to want to better their life. So I think you automatically have more in common with people in the region and I think it's a progress. It doesn't happen overnight, it's an evolution.

Speaker 2:

You know, the people that I may have met when I first moved here are not the people that I find very close now, but I think it's a case that you know the cycles in Dubai tend to be a little bit faster than maybe what they would be in the UK, for example. So likely case when you first moved here, the friends you're going to make are the people you work with. You know they might not be the people you are with long term it's not the case for Lloyd's. We've been friends since day one. But I think it's again it's evolution of of who you are as a person and I think you just sort of attract those people here.

Speaker 2:

Like I said, you've automatically got a lot in common. So I think, being able to support each other and I think because everybody is away from their families or, you know, have left their life behind, they're more willing to help you achieve whatever goal you're you're working towards. There's more of a positive push as opposed to a negative pull sometimes, which you know everybody's got those negative people in their life. So having people around you that can support and you know push you is is you know key.

Speaker 1:

I've naturally found that in dubai anyway. Yeah, there isn't this sort of tall poppy syndrome you get in the uk, where if you're doing a bit too well, then someone wants to chop you down. Yeah, here people are actually very supportive. If you're up, if you're down, whatever use, all the people that you can turn to that are actually very, very supportive. I've actually noticed that here it's really good and I think that's the key thing, and you just said it if you put it out, you're going to attract it. Laws of attraction big fan of that.

Speaker 1:

I'm doing a lot more of that type of thinking, a lot more about putting good thoughts out into the world, helping people, because I know that that's going to come back to me. Yeah, um, it's a big philosophy of mine and I'm finding my feet, I'm finding my way. You know it's difficult moving to a new country. It's up and down, it's different things. It's been complete change for me and there's no like nothing wrong with saying it can be hard when you move abroad. But what I want people to understand is it's going to be hard, but it's also great. Yeah, you know, and what you need is here. You've just got to find it. Yeah, and you'll enter into that world and you'll be absolutely great. What's the one bit of advice you would give someone if they're thinking about joining Hoxton Wealth, as a financial planner, for instance?

Speaker 2:

Being able to come into an organization and just learn as much as possible. Being able to take advice from every different part of the business Again just sort of being a sponge, understanding the processes that we have as a company and understanding that the client outcome is the most important thing and understanding all the processes behind that. Being able to, you know, facilitate everything for for clients nice sleep quick.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, great customer experience exactly, yeah, exactly what we're all about and exactly what we're going to do in 2005. We're going to supercharge that, yeah, amazing, though. Thank you so much for your time today. It's been a real pleasure getting to know you, really really glad you're in the business. You're one of those people I like to bump into, have a, have a chat with. We have a good chat, so really really looking forward to continue working with you. Mate. You too, nice one, thanks.