Hoxton Life

Hoxton Wealth's USA Expansion - Taylor Sallery

• Hoxton Wealth

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In this episode of the Hoxton Life Podcast, we sit down with Taylor Sallery, Commercial Director of Hoxton Wealth USA, to discuss the seismic shift in the US financial planning landscape and why it presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for international financial planners.

💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • Why 399,640 financial planners in the US aren’t addressing the growing demand for cross-border financial planning.
  • The $67 trillion in liquid investable assets market in the US and why global financial expertise is more valuable than ever.
  • The rapid rise in Americans moving abroad—with over 10 million US expats and 4,000 renouncing their citizenship annually.
  • How Hoxton Wealth is expanding into Florida, Texas, and Mexico to serve international and domestic clients.
  • How the Pathway Program is creating a new generation of financial planners ready to take on the global stage.

📈 Key Topics Discussed:

✅ Why more Americans are moving abroad – Taxation, cost of living, and political reasons driving the shift. 

✅ The gap in international financial planning – Why so few US firms offer cross-border expertise. 

✅ The future of financial planning in the US – How Hoxton Wealth is filling this gap and expanding into the domestic market. 

✅ The role of technology – How cutting-edge financial tools are reshaping the industry. 

✅ Opportunities for financial planners – Why now is the time to build an international career.

Ready to start your international financial planning career?

Hoxton Wealth is looking for ambitious individuals ready to take their careers to the next level. Whether you're interested in international financial planning, compliance, client servicing, or marketing roles within the financial sector, we offer unparalleled opportunities for growth and success.

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Curious about our career opportunities? Visit our website to explore open positions and learn more about joining the Hoxton Wealth team. Your journey in international financial planning starts here!

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Speaker 1:

Where's all the money? And I said in the US he said follow the money. I often find that in businesses that you're as good as your people, right.

Speaker 2:

You said to me a minute ago you lost 24 hours on the journey.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I feel. I'm certainly feeling it. One of the reasons that I like to travel internationally to our international offices is because you get to build relationships.

Speaker 2:

You're a Brit who's moved to America. Yeah, been there for six years, correct, why?

Speaker 1:

When I find myself around you know people that have been successful. I like to say to them if you could give some advice, what would it be? When you look at Hoxton and our structure, we have the right people in the right places.

Speaker 2:

How easy is it to transition across to America?

Speaker 1:

Do you do diligence on Hoxton? I most certainly do, and let me tell you now. You'll have your eyes opened up to how impressive they are.

Speaker 2:

Taylor, thanks so much for joining us today on the Hoxton Life podcast all the way from the USA. Yeah, how was your journey?

Speaker 1:

It was definitely long, but generally happy to be here.

Speaker 2:

It's about international financial planning, business right, you've got to be here, there and everywhere. We were just talking about how I envision my future here at Hoxton is to be able to fly out from Dubai to all the different locations. We have to bring the businesses to life, whether that's doing podcasts, whether it's doing little documentaries or bringing client stories to life. For me, I suppose one of the benefits of working for an international firm is the ability to get out there and travel the world. Right, right, but I think what people don't take into consideration is things like jet lag.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you said to me a minute ago, you lost 24 hours on the journey yeah, feel, uh, I'm certainly feeling it, but no, you're right, it's exciting and and one of the reasons that I like to travel internationally um, to our, to our international offices is because you get to build relationships around the firm and it's very important that that happens in order to continue to move the business forward, you need to be spending time with people and it also can be good just to get things done, to get on the ground, like head office, for example. I'm here in head office.

Speaker 2:

It's just a great opportunity to to network, but also to ensure that those those things, that perhaps those those niggly bits that can take that bit longer, I can get them done when I'm on the floor facetime at the end of the day, there's so much you can do over a team's call, right, you have to literally get in front of somebody, sit down with somebody to make things happen, and often in that scenario, in that environment, things are created that wouldn't normally be created over a phone call or teams. Yeah, that connection. I always find that say yeah, you know, part of being in an international business and I come to accept this now is international travel. I'm off to the uk for a couple of weeks to do some filming, so I am looking forward to that and I think I'll be looking forward to leaving the uk and coming back yeah, that's often how it goes, isn't it?

Speaker 1:

you get back to the uk, spend some time there, and you're often looking to to get back home and to get back to it so you're in a really exciting country, okay, especially for us at hoxton part of our growth plans are to really accelerate our presence in the usa.

Speaker 2:

But the usa, usa for you, isn't new right.

Speaker 1:

No, absolutely not no. So I've been in the US for six years now, and a good amount of that time has been focused on building out US businesses in the advisory space, focused on not only the domestic business but also the international.

Speaker 2:

Okay, great. So give us a little bit of an insight, then, into the difference between the domestic business and the international, and why really you see that as such a huge opportunity yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I think, look, hoxton, firstly, already has a a solid us business. Okay, the us business is is great, but I think that what our focuses are at this time is to is to really really home in on and tune in on the build out of the domestic business. Okay, so we want to focus on building out the domestic business and, equally, continue to build out the international business. Okay, which is, as you'll know, is is a very niche area for us and generally in the US as well. The differences so domestic business is business that is conducted within the US okay, so for US residents, and that can be both in the RIA, so on the registered investment advisory business, but also in the insurance business as well Okay, so both of both of those areas of business ultimately factor in and become part of a client's financial plan.

Speaker 1:

Ok, so that's that's where we are in the domestic business, and then equally the same for the international business. That's that's going to be focused on, predominantly individuals that may have spent time working in the US and then they've left to return back to their home country, but also individuals that are leaving the US. Okay is because, as you'll know, there's more, more than ever, people are. People are moving outside of the US for various reasons, but in those in, in those cases it's again, it's the same right. We're as a holistic financial planning firm. We are supporting those clients with generally the investment advice, but then also with our products and solutions in the insurance space as well. Fantastic.

Speaker 2:

Interesting to say about lots of people leaving the US. It seems to be a common theme really across most English speaking countries now the amount of people that are moving abroad. You said there was various reasons. What are some of the reasons you're coming up against when it comes to people actually wanting to move out of the us? Yeah, I think.

Speaker 1:

I think what you, what you're finding now, is that more retirees are leaving the us and that can be because of taxation, okay, cost of living, political reasons. I think those are really the. The three main areas are the, the drivers that are forcing people out of the us. But it's.

Speaker 1:

It's been tough historically because, if you look outside of the past two to three years, in the decade prior to that, it's been very difficult for for a us connected let's call them individual when leaving the US to really manage their finances. That could be anywhere from opening a bank account through to managing their IRA. It's been very difficult and the reason for that is compliance rules, okay, but also really, I guess, because of because of the IRS. You know, a lot of the time institutions overseas have not had the experience or the exposure to understand how best to support those clients. But what we have found in the past two to three years, more so in that time is that we are now in a position to be assisting those clients, and Hoxon as a business was on that train right from the beginning, and I believe that this business has by far the most superior product and service offering for international clients.

Speaker 2:

So when we look at the the advisor market in the us, okay, right, how many advisors are there in the usa operating? Circa 300 000 domestically okay, and how many of those advisors really are opening themselves up to international opportunities, is it?

Speaker 1:

common. I think it's a, I don't think it's much more than a handful. I remember having this conversation just recently with a good friend of mine who's in banking and we was talking about that. And these advisors, they don't have the experience in that area of business and I think that that's what makes us attractive from a recruitment perspective. And I think that that's what makes us attractive from a recruitment perspective, because more and more people are becoming aware of the flow of individuals that are leaving the US and because of that, they see the opportunity that's there, but again, not something that they're, you know the institutions that they're currently at are going to be able to work with, because you know know, it's not something that they've done or or planned to do.

Speaker 2:

You're a brit, um yeah, who's moved to america? Yeah, been there for six years, correct? Why?

Speaker 1:

I think for me. So it started out um, in earlier in my career I was traveling back and forth to to the uh, to the US, to support training. Um, there was acquisitions that were taking place, um, and I very quickly identified the opportunity in the US. Okay, people say it's the land of opportunity, to sound a bit cheesy, but I think it stands true and very quickly I'd identified that that's where the opportunity is and, and more so recently, it was going back three, four years ago now I was, uh, I was actually traveling on on business and and I sat down with somebody and he was very successful and I tend to when, when I find myself around you know people that I know that have been successful.

Speaker 1:

I like to say to you, know, if you could give some advice, what would it be? And this individual said to me, he said where's, where's all the money? And I said in the US, he said follow the money. Well, you know, focus on the US. The US is, is where the business is. And I think to me that really resonated because it's true, the opportunity is there and it's also a in in many ways in our areas of business, such an underserviced market which, again, for our company that's got that ambition to grow and wants to focus on on continued expansion. You know, everywhere you look, it's just a just a great opportunity for us to continue to do so.

Speaker 2:

So it's very exciting so as a business, america's massive right. So as a commercial director, you've got your sort of boots on the ground and you're looking at all these different states yeah, where we currently are at the moment and where perhaps we should invest time and energy in building an advisor base in those locations yeah, what is on the horizon then? Where are we looking to build these businesses out and serve clients?

Speaker 1:

so I think, I think our next office opening will is likely going to be in florida. Okay, um, it makes sense, right? I'm sure that, um, you'll be aware that throughout covid and um more so recently again, due to tax purposes, people having the ability to work from home, the weather, the cost of living on the West Coast and the likes of California, people are moving to Florida and have been moving into Florida. They've been moving out of New York, the Californians, into Florida. It's you know Florida is growing and it's already been the hub of retirees. So for us, strategically, it makes sense for us to be in Florida and there's many cities that at this time you know are growing and it's a good opportunity for us to be on the ground there to take part in that growth.

Speaker 2:

Where else are we at the moment?

Speaker 1:

So we have office in Texas and we also have an office in New Jersey, ok, and then, as I say, we'll be to open um in florida, which is where I'm based, but we've also got, as part of our america's operation, we we also have an office there in in mexico city now as well, which is which has been very exciting, okay so growing the advisor numbers through recruitment yeah it's always tricky.

Speaker 2:

It's been tricky in the uk, you know recruitment is is tough. There's a huge amount of advisors that are exiting the profession, not enough younger people coming in. What's the? Let's look at, because everyone's listening to this podcast right now and they're in the international space. They're outside, they're not domestic financial planners right into the usa. What is the opportunity for them? So let's say someone's going to be listening to this podcast and they're from the uk, for example, they're a financial planner and they're thinking to themselves wow, you know, I'd love to go and work in america. What a great opportunity that must be. How, what type of advisor should they be? What should they be thinking about and how easy is it to transition across to america?

Speaker 1:

so I. So I think the UK actually has many similarities in terms of the way in which they conduct business at an advisory level. Like JJ, as you all know, who's our managing director in the UK operation, he has a holistic planning approach. So often what you find is that many advisors, okay, they're not really considering the client's financial planning objectives. Okay, it's often that they want to manage a particular account for the client, move on to working with the next client, us as a business. Okay, we invest heavily in tech, as you'll know, and you know that technology supports us in being able to build and work with a client at a holistic level.

Speaker 1:

So, to go back to your question, what you know, where is the opportunity for somebody that's an international advisor?

Speaker 1:

I think it's really to to increase um, their servicing levels, ability, um, to not just be focused on working with a client for a particular account. You know it's often often said, okay, accumulation of assets is great, but then you've also got, you know how do we go about managing that risk? How do we go about protecting those assets? And that's where hoxon is a business that has uh, you know, as I, as I said, a fantastic products and solutions offering, has the, has the means to to service its clients at the very top level, and I think that's something that, in the US, is going to be very well received, because I think really, since COVID, people have realized so much more about their finances, about what can happen in the world, and because of that they're woken up and they really want to tune into focusing on the management of their assets and their planning of their assets and their planning. I think that, with the tools and the tech that's available to us within the firm, I think it's a great opportunity for people to grow.

Speaker 2:

So an advisor is listening to this. They're based in the UK, but they want to go to Australia and work for Hoxton.

Speaker 1:

Australia or the US.

Speaker 2:

We've got so many locations I'm losing count. They're in the UK. They're interested in moving to the US to become an advisor Right.

Speaker 1:

Like, how do they go about it? Okay, so first things first. You know, Chris often will talk about the three core values that we have as a business. Okay, so we need to ensure that anybody that's coming into the business maintains those values. Okay, we are looking for top talent. Ok, we're looking for individuals that that really are passionate about what they do and they want to come in, they want to work hard. So I think how they go about it is that we're absolutely wanting to connect with individuals, understand about their journey, understand about what their objectives are in their career. And you know, we have the means to be able to bring people into the US and to train them and to mentor them, to provide education for them, to be able to put them on that journey of becoming successful.

Speaker 2:

We've recently set up an office over in mexico city as well, which is really exciting. Yeah, what part does that play in the the us growth plans, both from a client acquisition perspective, but also from, say, an advisor development perspective?

Speaker 1:

yeah.

Speaker 1:

So what, as, as you know that the business has, we, we have a pathway program, okay, which is where we bring in trainee wealth managers, okay, they go on a three-year journey and eventually, you know, they, they step up into becoming a financial advisor, and the Mexico City office, much like what we have here in Dubai, is where our pathway program will will will be okay.

Speaker 1:

So individuals will start out as uh as assisting with, uh, the financial advisors in in assisting their clients in new business transactions, so I guess really you could call it the sales hub, okay, for the americas, and then they go on the journey to take themselves into the us. But the office is, uh, the, the office and the opportunity there in mexico is a is an exciting one. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the, the growth in that office, because mexico has so many americans, you know again. So that's our area of specialty working with americans that are residing internationally, so we have opportunity there. But it's also got access. It gives you access to LATAM, so from that you can leverage that business and you can start to go into other areas throughout Latin America.

Speaker 2:

Which is huge right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely, and that market is ever growing. Individuals and clients are looking for that holistic financial planning and again, we've got the products and solutions to be able to assist them.

Speaker 2:

There's lots of. I was looking at Costa Rica Because my friend went to Costa Rica and he went out to a wellness center.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Right, but like he's going out, he was having a bit of a hard time, so he goes. I'm going to go over to Costa Rica. There's a wellness center out there. They've got doctors in it and all that kind of stuff. So he was a very high-end tech developer type individual.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

So he works at a very stressed out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so he went there anyway, spent, I think it's two months there.

Speaker 2:

he hasn't come, hasn't come back, okay, but so he's moved to costa rica. So I looked into costa rica and it's like one of the like, because on the happiness index it's up there right yeah so as I was doing my deep, deep diving into it, I could see also that a huge amount of americans are moving there yeah so is that quite common then? So americans are moving to south Central America.

Speaker 1:

So Costa Rica. I'm glad you mentioned it, because I'm a big fan of Costa Rica as well myself. I've spent some time there. It's a great place, but Costa Rica has been what is now, I would say, portugal. So previously, americans were leaving the US and moving across to Costa Rica. There's a lot of US investors as well that do business in Costa Rica, but now I think that that's shifted. Because of various tax incentives again, cost of living and amongst other reasons, it's now become more. Portugal is really the place for retirees, but when you look at the numbers that are throughout Latin America, mexico has more Americans than anywhere else in the world, or US-connected individuals, shall I say. But I think Portugal is the place at the moment.

Speaker 2:

Why is?

Speaker 1:

that then. So they actually have, or they had, sort of incentives, so visa programs that were very attractive for for us citizens or us connected individuals. If you imagine that you're you're living, and you're living in california, you know you're paying those those high taxes and you can go across to to portugal at, say, a 10, it becomes very attractive, right? People realise that, complemented by the cost of living, as well as that tax cut, and it's also a fantastic place. I'm not sure if you've spent time there, but it's a place that's become very attractive.

Speaker 2:

Is it shorter-term visas in Portugal, or is it more like for Americans that want to?

Speaker 1:

permanently move there. There's options in Portugal in terms it more like, for Americans that want to permanently move there. There's options in Portugal in terms of their visa programs. They have visa programs for five years, 10 years, I believe and again, forgive me, I'm not an expert in that area, but there's different schemes that are available. It's a very popular. It's a very popular spot at this time and I was actually caught up with one of our partners in Portugal, just yesterday in fact, and we were talking. I said you know, are the Americans still coming More than ever, more so than ever? So, very exciting. We've actually got a representative on the ground in Portugal as well, a US-qualified, us-licensed individual experienced in that area. As you know, we've got guys in france, portugal, uk, pretty much spread throughout the uh, europe and also really interesting for americans to move to, because you're not a million miles away from the uk.

Speaker 2:

So if you wanted to kind of have a touch, you know, go back to the uk where it's predominantly what it is english speaking, you know, you're just like move to france, for example. You could be an hour and a half away from the uk so if you wanted a touch of that uk vibe as well.

Speaker 2:

It's not a million miles away, which is really really useful. I've been talking a lot with a chap called richard hammond french connections all right which is a really really good guy, one of our partners, so sort of day in, day out each year. I think last year he helped move about 400 um americans to france wow and he does a whole concierge service from start to finish because, as you mentioned earlier, things like even setting up bank accounts can be really, really tricky.

Speaker 1:

It is yeah.

Speaker 2:

And the whole process of moving from America, closing down your accounts, having to deal with your investments and all those things. So we've partnered with him, as part of his concierge service, this hand-holding experience of taking somebody from america all the way to france right um, and I've gotten to know some of the clients that have gone on that journey as well, because I get to watch some of the videos and understand their stories.

Speaker 2:

And he's got such a really good youtube channel as well, where it really kind of does bring to life what it's like to um to live in france, and I think it's very appealing for americans as well. It's like a kind of heritage thing, it's like going back to where you came from. A lot of them really like the idea of going back into Europe.

Speaker 1:

Germany, for example, seems to be quite Germany's popular Greece is popular at the moment. They've got visa programs and tax incentives in Greece Again. Portugal, uk more for individuals that are going across for work, I believe, but yeah, no more for individuals that are going across for work, I believe, um, but yeah, no, europe's, europe's really popular at this time, really appealing, and we're going to see probably more americans making that move.

Speaker 2:

I think the uae is one of the most popular at the moment in respect of english speakers looking to leave countries and go somewhere, even like china as well. Lots of people from china are wanting to leave and come over here to the uae. So, look, people are moving around more so than ever. Um and um. Being an international firm that now has that solid growth plan in the usa, I think is a is a smart move for us here at hoxton hoxton wealth um.

Speaker 2:

Just going back to the financial planners that are operating in the us, right when it comes to qualifications, I think a lot of, there's a lot are operating in the US Right when it comes to qualifications, I think a lot of there's a lot of people in the UK that, yeah, I'd love to go and work in America as a financial planner, but they're unsure about the qualifications they might need to be able to do that. Can you give us a little bit of an insight into that?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, sure. So two qualifications really that are going to get you to the point of being able to to provide advice. The first one is on the investment advisory side, which is your series 65, okay, and that that qualifies you as an investment advisor. You then have, uh, insurance qualifications, which vary state to state um, so in each state there'll be, there'll be'll be, a designated insurance license, and the reason for that is that insurance is actually state regulated. In the US, in Florida, as an example, it's the 215. It's commonly renowned.

Speaker 1:

There's a few different variants to the exams that you can take, dependent on what type of insurance you're looking to sell. But yeah, I think that if you're looking to sell, but yeah, I think that if you're, if you're looking to to become an advisor in the us, those are really the two qualifications. But what we are seeing more and more at the moment, um and we have guys that have these credentials as as well, and we're actually speaking to, to a number of advisors that have them as well is the cfp um, which is the the uh, the chart financial planner sorry, certified financial planner um credentials, which is is great to have, especially as, as mentioning earlier, that, as we continue to move into the space where individuals are looking for that more in-depth planning. Um, I think that those that is something that took to work towards, but, again, without getting carried away, it's. It's good to start at the beginning, which is going to be your series 65 and your and your insurance qualifications from a growth perspective.

Speaker 2:

We're talking about advisors domestic. We're talking about advisors on an international basis. What about acquisitions? Is that in the plan?

Speaker 1:

absolutely yeah. So we're uh, we very much, very much eager to be speaking with firms that want to merge or potentially be acquired by Hoxton. It's a big space in the US. The average advisor in the US, I believe, is like 56. And very commonly what you'll find is that they're looking to retire themselves, wind down, maybe transition their book, spend a period of time transitioning that book over to ensure that the clients are taken care of. The reason for that is that financial advisors, they build longstanding relationships with these clients and they care about where those clients are going to end up. So, yeah, I think that there's a lot of opportunity in that space. We we're we are very active in, as you know, as a business in acquisitions and we will continue to be um in the us fantastic.

Speaker 2:

So what's in store for 2025, then, taylor? What are you looking forward to?

Speaker 1:

I'm looking forward to much planned growth. I'm looking forward to getting into the offices with the team and, as I say, just generally, just expanding the business, growing the business and servicing clients and being able to have a superior offering. I believe, and I stand by it and say I'm a firm believer, that we have the most superior offering in the market anywhere from our said I'm a firm believer that we have the most superior offering in the market anywhere from our tech to our products and solutions that we have available, and I'm looking forward to to showcasing that and demonstrating that and to our clients.

Speaker 2:

well, you've made a fantastic impact already in the us. Uh, no doubt you're going to have huge success in 2025 and beyond. I was just interviewing ch Ball, who's our CEO, obviously.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

And he's super excited about the US.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Spending more time there and looking at companies like Creative Financial Planning that are over there. Those types of businesses have done exceptionally well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

What have they done well? What can we do to learn from them? Yeah, and how can we make international really really stand out in that, in that us market, and connect our advisors, connect the world, connect our clients? It's a huge, huge opportunity and one of the things you definitely said on. There was the average age of the advisor in the us. I looked into that as well. We're up to 300 000 advisors, the average age being 56.

Speaker 2:

That is a huge opportunity it is it's a huge opportunity, so position ourselves there. When it comes to acquisitions or retiring advisors out there, they really should be considering us as a solid option yeah because it will also open them up to the international market as well. Because all of a sudden, perhaps they don't want to stay in the us, maybe they want to go and live in france and become an advisor over in france, but continue servicing their us clients. Well, hey presto, you can do that can do that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I might be biased and perhaps I am, but Hoxton's a place to be right. When you work with an advisor and you're bringing in an advisor into a business, I almost call it like the due diligence phase we're getting to know them, they're getting to know us. Okay, do due diligence on Hoxton. I most certainly did, and let me tell you now you you know you'll have your eyes opened up to how impressive they are. Um, I think that we have great foundations to to grow our business in the us. You mentioned um firms that have been successful in the us and that have have grown quickly. When you look at hoxton and our structure, we have the right people in the right places and I often find that in businesses that you're as good as your people, right, and what we have at our firm, and one thing that I very much enjoy is that in all areas of the business, we have the top talent and everybody shares the same passion and a common goal and that's success. So if you're one of them, people get on board.

Speaker 2:

Fantastic Well, Taylor, look, it's been absolutely brilliant getting to know you since you joined the business. I'm thoroughly looking forward to working with you even further and helping grow the USA and obviously awesome to see you over here in Dubai as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, greatly appreciate it, sam. Thank you for your time, cheers. Appreciate it, sam. Thank you for your time, cheers.