How A Paraplanner Became A Financial Planner At Titan Wealth

Thinking about a career change into financial planning?

How do you become a financial adviser if you’re changing careers?
In this episode of The Financial Planner Life Podcast with Titan Wealth, Azela explains the fastest practical route into the profession after moving from engineering into financial advice.

Should you start as a paraplanner before becoming a financial adviser?
Azela breaks down why paraplanning builds technical knowledge, client meeting experience, and confidence — making it one of the strongest entry points into a trainee financial planner role.

What do firms look for in career changers entering financial planning?
We discuss mindset, transferable skills, qualifications, and how to stand out when moving into the UK financial advice profession.

Check out Titan Wealth career opportunities here, or speak to me directly!  

This episode is essential listening for anyone researching a financial planning career, exploring the move from paraplanner to financial adviser, or planning a career pivot into finance.

In this episode we cover:
• Changing careers from engineering into financial planning
• The quickest route to becoming a financial adviser
• Why paraplanning is a powerful entry point
• Building confidence in client meetings
• Skills needed for trainee financial planners
• Career opportunities inside Titan Wealth
• Real expectations of the financial advice profession
• Advice for career changers entering finance

If you’re asking “how do I become a financial adviser?” this episode gives practical answers from someone who’s done it.

Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance
Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered.
✅ Trusted by top UK firms
👉 www.redmilladvance.com/fpl

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Transcript

Welcome And Full-Circle Moment

SPEAKER_00 0:04

And today's guest on the Financial Planner Live podcast is Azella Safari. She is a financial planner for Titan Wealth. She started out as a power planner and moved into a power planning manager role. And she did that intentionally. And today she shares why and what you can do if you're a power planner who wants to become a financial advisor. We talk about qualifications, why it's so important for her to become chartered. We talk about her career transition from engineering into financial planning, and we talk about the future, what it holds for her at Titan Wealth. You know, love this episode. Ella, welcome to the Financial Planner Life Podcast. It's a pleasure to have you on.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

How are you?

SPEAKER_02 0:50

I am okay. I'm kind of a little bit nervous, but it's it's kind of like feeling surreal right now.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Why is it surreal?

From Oil Rigs To Finance

SPEAKER_02 0:58

Um, I think it's because, well God, how long has it been now? Maybe about three and a half, four years ago. I started listening to your podcast. Right. And then now I'm actually on it. So it just feels a bit, whoa.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

That's amazing. So listen, I love it when people come on the podcast when they've originally heard about it so many years ago and it actually got them interested in a career within financial planning. Was there any guests on the podcast that really sort of piqued your interest? Did it you got on with?

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Um I've listened to probably all of your shows. So I can't remember, like, I can't really pick and choose, but the one person that stood out for me was Natasha Percy Baxter, but that's because I kind of like I'm now friends slash an acquaintance with her. We've met um at a conference, gosh, when was it? April of last year, I think, and we've just kept in touch, so we still keep in touch to this day.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

That's amazing. I absolutely love that. And Natasha was somebody who actually reached out to me when I had the podcast to ask me questions about becoming a financial planner as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

So it's brilliant to hear these full cycle stories. It really means a lot to me because the idea was the podcast was designed to be able to create a window into the profession to attract new people and to attract more women to the profession. There's a distinct lack of females within the financial planning profession. 16% of all financial planners are female. But you had a career previous to financial planning. There was also a distinct lack of females in that one. So for some reason, you keep finding these careers where there's no women. No choice, but so tell us a little bit about your previous career, and then we'll get into why you transitioned from that into financial planning.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Yeah. So previously I worked in oil and gas with a big corporation. So I was actually working with Shell or Brunei Shell Petroleum at the time. Um, just because I was interested or had, you know, like good strengths and engineering and science and maths background. And I thought that would be like a good career to start off in. Um, I was working in Brunei at the time, and that's like one of our biggest like private employers. Um, and I think it was probably a bit of being influenced by friends around me, a lot of them who were working in that company as well, in the industry. So, you know, you just got to know what they did. And I don't know, but it just sounded quite interesting to me. Um, so that's how I kind of like got started into that profession. Um, and then over time I just kind of like worked my way um, you know, um um through engineering works in the office, uh performance works in when I was moved into like the Kuala Lumpur office in the regional team, and also essentially working on the field or working on the rigs or vessel. So I kind of like transitioned my way through a few different roles, but essentially it's within like well engineering.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Oh, fantastic. Very different from financial planning. I mean, when you're on the rigs, how many women were on the rigs at any one time?

SPEAKER_02 3:53

It really depends, but it's there's only really very few. Um, there's been a few times where I was literally the only female on the rigs out of 120, 130 men. So it felt a bit intimidating at first, um, especially as a trainee supervisor. But then you just, I don't know, you just kind of like got on with it. You just get accustomed to it, I guess. And they just become your friends over time and you just stop thinking about it. But, you know, when we did have, I think there was one at one point we had maybe, I can't remember, was it five or six female supervisors on the rigs, and that was probably the most, you know, like female representation we've had on there. So it was it was like a thing to celebrate, and it was quite interesting to see that we had more female supervisors um on there than I've ever really seen. I don't know what it's like now, but this was maybe God, how long was it? Four or five years ago.

Discovering Purpose Through Personal Finance

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Love it. So, why financial planning then? You had a career in engineering, you're working on those oil rigs. Why why financial planning?

SPEAKER_02 5:00

So I had a career break and I basically decided to take a two-year gap from oil and gas or working, and I kind of like moved back to the UK to be closer to family at the time. Um, this was throughout basically during COVID, like the country locked down, and I was just, I guess, stuck there essentially for um God, two years or so before, and I couldn't see or leave to see my family. So I thought, okay, let me just take a break. I think my mental health wasn't great at that point. We were also working really long hours on the rigs. Um, so I came back, decided just travel, chill, relax, and essentially rethink my career options. Do I want to still stay in engineering, work out in Asia, or still stay in engineering, but maybe base myself in the UK and, you know, like create my career here in Aberdeen, for example. Or if I just wanted to transition and essentially rethink my career and join financial services as a option as well, just because I've got my social media that talk about personal finance and I love talking about personal finance and money and you know how we can invest to build wealth, and anyone and everyone can build wealth, you know, through investments and investing. Um, so it kind of like gave me that space and time to think about what I wanted to do next. Um, so I finally decided on basically financial services or in particular financial planning as a career. And that's when I decided to take the steps to move forward with that.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

I love it. So your personal finance journey started through social media, setting up your own profile about your own personal journey?

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Yes, essentially.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Oh, great. Is that and how's that going?

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Is that still in that's still going because I started that I can't remember how long ago I started that now, five years ago, maybe. So it kind of like was a side hobby whilst I was working um on the rigs, essentially.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

I've got to ask why. Why why was that a side hobby? Why did that interest you so much?

SPEAKER_02 7:04

I think for me the drive was from hearing feedback from friends, you know, like we all, you know, talked to each other and shared investing ideas and what we were doing. And, you know, um, I then realized that not a lot of people know about investing and building wealth and, you know, just thinking about the future and planning ahead. Everyone just, you know, like you earn a salary, you spend it, you save it for something specific, or you just saved it for the long term. But that's not actually a great way to go about it. So I thought, you know, let me create a page where I can share my knowledge, share my journey, and hopefully inspire others, and especially women, to, you know, like we need to start saving and investing for the future because we all know about the gender pay gap, the gender wealth gap or investing gap. So I just wanted to share my knowledge and it just grew over time.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

So when did you start to learn about that gender pay gap and wealth gap for women?

SPEAKER_02 7:59

That was probably as I got more into talking about personal finance, you know, you just get more interested and you start thinking about, oh, what can I talk about, you know, this weekend on my social media? And you just started to research or read papers or articles, and that's when it came up that, you know, we have a gender pay gap or we have a gender investment or pension gap because we're not putting enough towards our investments or pensions for the future.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

And from that sort of observation and on what you uncovered and what you discovered, did that spark some purpose in you?

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Yeah, essentially. And that's when I thought, you know, I I'm still young enough to do that career change or that career switch. I might have to restart again and build my way back up. But, you know, I have a long career ahead of me. I'm still in my 30s. So if you retire at the state pension age of 67, if I wanted to retire early, let's say it's 60, that's still 25, 30 years ahead of me. So in my head, I'm like, why not make it my life's purpose or my life goal to help people and make a direct impact through their finances?

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Okay. So you said finance, you said financial services, but you didn't say financial planning.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Yeah.

Why Financial Planning Over Other Paths

SPEAKER_00 9:16

So what made you decide on financial planning as a career?

SPEAKER_02 9:21

I think financial planning gives you like a holistic planning of someone's finances, um, from saving, from investing for the future, from you know, contribute contributing towards a pension and growing that over time so that you can plan for your life's goals. Like if you wanted to, you know, put your kids through private school, if you wanted to retire early, if you wanted to have a really good retirement, if you know, there's so many things that can encompass financial planning if you wanted to, I don't know, um, do some estate planning and you know, reduce your inheritance tax, for example, and just manage that better, reduce your taxes. There's so many things that you can do within financial planning rather than just, for example, accountancy. So that was my thought at the time. And I like to interact with people and you know, get to know them, get to know their situation, and also, you know, learn from them and get some inspiration from them on how they built their wealth or how they've, you know, become disciplined to save and invest for the future and you know, creating a financial safety blanket for themselves.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

I guess as well, like when you are a financial planner and you are sitting in front of people that have built considerable wealth, whether that be through inheritance or it could be just through building their own business, could be entrepreneurs, there is so much to learn. Exactly. You know, and it is interesting. Um, and if you're there to be able to help guide them and steer them and make the right decisions, help them with tax, all those typical types of things, and you're only ever going to learn from them as well at the same time. So it does become a real kind of education, doesn't it? Yes. I love it. Right, okay, great. Now I I you were very intentional when you came into the financial planning profession. Yeah. You kind of already planned in your head how you were going to enter and the route and the plan that you wanted to go down. If we just start first though, just let everyone know where are you working at the moment and what do you currently do?

SPEAKER_02 11:21

Yeah. So I'm currently working with Titan Wealth Planning and I'm currently a financial planner in the Bionec team.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

In the Bionic team. So Bionic team is a desk-based uh remote financial planning role.

SPEAKER_02 11:35

Yes, exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Mainly kind of telephone-based?

SPEAKER_02 11:38

Yes, telephone teams, videos, but it's basically desk-based, and um it we don't see clients essentially one-to-one.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Great stuff. Let's just go back to the beginning. Okay, so you made an intention to get into the financial planning profession, but you kind of already thought about the route that you wanted to go down. Tell us the route that you went down and why.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Yes, I started as a trainee paraplanner two years, nine months ago, um, and then progressed my way into a poinning role and later on into a power planning kind of like team lead or manager role. Okay. And now here I am now with the financial planning role.

Entering Via Paraplanning By Design

SPEAKER_00 12:14

And when you were considering um joining the financial planning profession, was your sort of mindset, I'm gonna be a financial planner?

SPEAKER_02 12:21

Yes. So I've always had that goal in my head when I transitioned from engineering into financial services, basically.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Okay. So why power planning then? Why did you go down that route and why were you so intentional with it instead of going down, say, a trainee financial planner route or a financial planner route in one of the major academies?

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Yeah. I think at the time I looked at all the options and I did see the academies. But a lot of the academies kind of like um are geared towards those who wanted to build their own business or go self-employed after the, you know, the training period. What I wanted to do was I wanted to build on my technical skills and technical knowledge first. So power planning was essentially a stepping stone for me for that. Because I personally believe that if you have good technical knowledge, you'll then give good quality advice as well. So it kind of like goes hand in hand.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Okay. So you came from engineering straight into power planning by passing the administration role. Often people go admin to trainee powerplanner to power planner and then into financial advice via trainee financial advisor role. Usually that's quite typical. Yeah. But you you purposely jumped over the administration role into power planning. Why?

SPEAKER_02 13:34

I think it's purely based on timing, goal, and probably even pay, if I'm being very honest. Um, because I didn't start in the industry, you know, like a fresh graduate. I started as a second careerist. So in my head, what was the quickest way to get to becoming a financial planner? So if I was to come out of university, I might probably go through the, you know, the administrator role, power planning role, and then a financial planning role. But at the time, I was already earning a good sum of money. And even to take that trainee power planner role, that was a huge, basically pay cut. Um, so it's a mix of pay, um, progression, and essentially, how can I get to a power planning, sorry, a financial planning role in the quickest time. So I spoke to a lot of people at the time who were both in power planning roles and in financial advising roles, and I kind of like asked them how they got there. So it was quite a mix of, like you said, some people came from the client services route or admin route, and some people came from power planning route, or quite a few of them actually were a second career like myself. And how did they get into the profession? So I kind of like learned from others as well, and I chose the power planning path as to me the quickest and best pass path for myself.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

If someone's listening to this now and they want to do the same thing, what advice would you give them to get in front of the right people, decision makers in businesses, and secure themselves a power planning role as an entry point? What advice would you give them based on your experience?

SPEAKER_02 15:09

I think they will need to be proactive. Like if if you're a second careerist, you need to make sure that you're you show that you're serious in that you are wanting to enter this profession. Because some um skills might be transferable, but the knowledge isn't there. So you need to, you know, like network, uh, join some groups, like I joined um Next Gen Planners or Now Planics. Um, and then I spoke to people, you know, I got mentors off of the CII whilst I was uh doing my study and self-funding though. So I did three exams before I essentially applied for roles. So you just need to make sure that you've put yourself in a good footing to apply for these roles and for someone to see that, oh, you've already got the qualification. So I don't need to essentially, you know, like pay for you to gain the qualification, but also it might then take you longer to learn the technicals if you've just kind of like applied without any exams behind you.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

Okay, so self-funding your exams, for instance, and some of the qualifications, you felt that gave you an advantage?

SPEAKER_02 16:13

Oh, for sure. Um, definitely. I think if I was not, if I didn't have those exams behind me, I probably wouldn't get a role or might be harder to get a role. Like I know myself personally just because in my role as a power planning team lead previously, I had to also recruit people. So obviously we looked at CVs and a lot of the requirements were to have at least a couple, um, or as a trainee power planner, at least a couple of exams, if not three exams under their belt, versus someone who didn't have any exams, for example.

Breaking In As A Second Careerist

SPEAKER_00 16:44

And when you joined some of those communities like um Nextgen Planner, Panex, uh the CII, reaching out to people like Natasha Percy Baxter, did you get a lot of knowledge of uh day-to-day experience? So when you went into those interviews, you were able to articulate the role and responsibility of a power planner, identify.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Yeah, so that's where I kind of like reached out to a few people, and some people, you know, you didn't get response from, which is fine, and then some others did, and they were quite friendly and helpful with sharing their journeys and advice and essentially what they did day-to-day. So, you know, when I got into the interview process, I could I knew what the, you know, like what CRMs were being used, or what was the back office systems, what providers were being used. I could articulate that then into my interview, like to say, well, I don't have the experience, but I've got some knowledge now with all my exams. And also, you know, based on me talking with others about it, I know what the work is day to day.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Yeah. Okay, great. So you had an intention of becoming a financial planner, right? So you go into Titan Wealth, yeah, and that is your intention. How do you position that at an interview? Like, I want to be a financial planner one day when we know that there's a massive shortage of power planners, and some firms just want to keep their power planners as close as they possibly can and not let them career, you know, develop their career. So, how did you position that as your ambition and aspiration whilst also ticking the box of being a power planner for a company?

SPEAKER_02 18:09

I was honest in the interview, and I did say that, you know, like I'm coming into this industry or this services as uh and I wanted to start in power planning, but then you know, my end goal is to become a financial planner, a financial advisor. So I I was quite clear in that in the interview. So they understood that, you know, like I will be here in the short term, two, three years, but then hopefully by then I'll have progressed when an opportunity arises. Um, you know, it's also being very clear on where you want to go, because in interviews you get you tend to get asked about, you know, in five years' time, where do you see yourself? In the long term, where do you see yourself? So it's kind of like being intentional of understanding what you are interested in and where you want to go.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

Okay. So how long have we been at Titan Wealth for now?

SPEAKER_02 18:56

Um, in total, two years, nine months.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Two years, nine months. Okay. So starting as a power planner then for Titan Wealth?

SPEAKER_02 19:03

Cardell at the time, yes.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Yeah, yeah, so Cardell, yeah. So we got acquired by by Titan Wealth. Yes, exactly. So you started there and now you are working as a financial planner on the remote desk based position. That's good going.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Yeah, that's really, really good going. So well done. Um when did you know because you know when you join a company and you're thinking, oh, I hope this is going to progress to the way I want it to progress. Yeah. When did you know with Titan that you were in you, you know, you were on the right, the right journey, the right pathway, and the support was there for you to progress and um help you succeed in your ambition?

Signalling Ambition In Interviews

SPEAKER_02 19:40

Yeah. I think it depends because if you have good supporting managers who, you know, can help you, you know, get to where you are, but also essentially it's on you as well to show that you are being proactive in you know, creating opportunities or joining projects to essentially grow and build yourself up for the next opportunity. Um, Titan Wealth is a you know, fast-paced growing business. And there's always going to be opportunities there because of how fast they're growing. Um, so I was just kind of like making sure that I was positioned right so that if any opportunity comes up, I'll be best placed for those and I'll be ready for those opportunities. So, you know, speaking to my manager and getting support from my colleagues in the office about, oh, can I attend their client meetings or can I, you know, see how it's like to have conversations with clients or going into projects where I can maybe make a difference and um, you know, have tough conversations with either my colleagues because I'm I'm, you know, managing a team or having tough conversations with other colleagues, for example, if they wanted to push through the reports quicker than others, but they've just submitted it yesterday and there's a queue of others still in the line. So it's it's kind of like I think the positions that I'm in helped me reach where I am now with all the different projects and processes and technical knowledge that I've acquired over those times.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

Love that. So from power planning, you then moved into power planning management. Yeah. Yeah, running a power planning team and then into financial advice. Yeah. Yes. Okay, great stuff. So let's just bring that back because a lot of people that move into power power planning management tend to stay there and not move into financial advice. So talk to us a little bit about the um power planning to power planning manager. Were you wearing two hats? That often happens. Yeah. And then when was the right time to move into financial advice?

SPEAKER_02 21:42

I was only wearing two hats or doing both my power planning work and managing a small team at the time for maybe about just over six months. Okay. And then after that, as a tree as a team, you know, doubled and grew from there, it was purely just management work. So having the two hats kind Of like helped with, you know, still learning my technical knowledge, writing my reports, you know, researching and doing the analysis of the advice, but also, you know, building that soft skills, the communication skills, the empathy by, you know, managing a team as well on the side, and then later on managing the team, you know, purely just based on management and managing the team and doing other management-related work and working with other teams like the CS or admin team or the advising or regional managers. Um it just, I feel like they all helped the power planning manager role helped massively, I think, in more of the soft skills.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

Okay. So talk to me about that then. So how did it help you with the soft skills?

SPEAKER_02 22:46

Having to kind of like check in with the team on a daily basis, manage the team, sometimes, you know, have tough conversations with them on KPIs and, you know, productivity, um, having conversations with other advisors on their work or you know, the quality of their work potentially, or supporting them with some of their work and um, you know, like escalating some of their cases where necessary, where there's a client detriment and the client really needs the money. Um, working with compliance teams, working with regional managers on, you know, um suggestions for improvements, issues, and again, sometimes having the difficult conversations there, where sometimes, you know, like an advisor might want their um client's report to be fast tracked, but then there might not be full justification for that because it might not be to a client's detriment. Because we also need to, you know, as per consumer duty, be fair with all of our clients and treat them fairly and equally, essentially.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

I love that. So you start to work with some of the key stakeholders within the business, having those difficult conversations. That's really, really good. Because it gives you a good understanding and a good grounding of the business and the people that are in it and service level agreements, the pressures that other people are under as well. So that's really good. Um, what about that the power of sitting in a client meeting? So when you're a power planner, and some power planners, you know, are just sort of kept in the dark.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

Yeah.

Managing Teams And Building Soft Skills

SPEAKER_00 24:10

You know, they're just, you know, do your job and head down. And some are happy to do that, by the way. Yeah. But how much did it open you up when you started to actually sit in front of clients as a power planner?

SPEAKER_02 24:23

I think sitting in front of clients as a power planner, especially a power planner who wants to progress into financial planning to become an advisor one day, I think it's quite beneficial. Like it's highly beneficial, in my opinion, because you can then see the the ways that the client and advisors interact between them, um, different personalities from different advisors. Um, some use humor, some use kind of like, you know, like good relationships, some use facts, just really depends on the clients themselves, you know, like are they more factual? Are they more um, you know, they don't really want to know the nitty-gritty, just want to know that you can help them with their situation. So, you know, you just cover it on a high level. So it kind of like gives you a basis of the different ways to interact with clients, the different relationship-building, I guess, techniques and methods and the different advice as well, because some clients, their advice of financial planning need might be quite simple, whilst others might be quite complex. So it's seeing all the different soft skills, but also the technical advice piece, I think, was quite well-rounded, or it is a well-rounded thing for someone who would want to progress.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

I like it. So, as a power planner sitting in a meeting with a financial advisor and a client, what did you, what, what, what role did you play in those meetings? Was there a specific role that you played? Did you get wheeled out to do a presentation? Were you there to simplify technical information? You know, what I want to kind of help somebody who's listening, who's perhaps a power planner and wants to wants to be in these client meetings, but is perhaps being held back. What can they say? What can they say would add value to that meeting if they were in it?

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Originally, well, mostly I was an advert an observer whilst I was in the meeting. Um, I've kind of like attended quite a few, but I would probably average about two a month, maybe. Um, and it was mostly based as an observer just to see how they interacted, what advice was being given. But then after the meeting, you then had the discussion with the advisors essentially, you know, talking about or bouncing off ideas with them to say like how what advice would you give based on what you've heard or based on the fact-finding and risk profiling? Um, so it was kind of good to kind of get an insight with that and bounce your ideas off of them and with them. Um, but also I think over time, if let's say a power planner can't get into those meetings, ooh, that's a tough one. How would they then manage that?

SPEAKER_00 27:04

Well, maybe it's part of the maybe that that's that's something worthwhile them understanding that if they are bottlenecked in the company that they're in, perhaps they need to move.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Perhaps they're never going to get that opportunity to sit in front of the clients. Perhaps the business just isn't uh geared up for that way to have a career development plan, such as Titan Wealth, to be able to put you in front of clients that encourage you. And that does happen. And I've always said that to people. If you get to that stage, you know, maybe it's time to go. Yeah. Maybe it's kind of time to go and find a company that has a career development plan that will put you in front of clients and help you develop. Because that gets back to what I said before, there's a shortage of finance, there's a shortage of power planners, and maybe they don't want to progress that person. Maybe you want to keep them in um in the role. And um big risk though, you're gonna lose people, right?

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Yeah, that's a good point, actually, because if something doesn't serve you anymore and you know your values no longer align, like you say, it might just be best to find another company that would suit you better rather than banging your head against the wall in the current company.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Exactly. You self-funded your qualifications. How important is further education, further qualifications to you, and where are you in that journey?

Learning In Client Meetings

SPEAKER_02 28:04

So I self-funded three originally before I joined um Cardale or Titan. Um, and then I completed the rest of it with Titan. And I've I'm now progressing because I want to get into chartered um qualifications. I've done one exam and I've got some credits from my master's degree. Um, so I think I've got about four remaining. I need to double check, but I think I've got four left. My plan, my plan is to become a chartered financial planner. So that's the end goal.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

Why is that important?

SPEAKER_02 28:34

I think to have further qualification is like a goal, like chartered financial planner is like a gold standard, isn't it? It's like you then build credibility and trust with clients because one, you know you're what you're talking about, but two, you've got the technical depth and the technical knowledge for that. And it just it's also a commitment to give you know better client outcomes essentially, based on, especially based on complex tax scenarios, pension scenarios, estate planning. It's really great to have those qualifications.

SPEAKER_00 29:08

You're moving now from power planning, or you've moved from power planning into um the the desk-based financial planner position. Yeah. What was that transition like at Titan Wealth? What's different day-to-day at the moment?

SPEAKER_02 29:24

So the transition was quite quick, actually. It was like well, I had to do like my three months' notice before I moved positions to give them time to recruit, you know, backfill my current position. And, you know, that transition involved um handing over to the new power planning manager. Um, it also involved me kind of like learning about the advisors' processes and what they need to do as part of the company. Because even though you're in the same company, you understand, you know, like the general processes and things to do, but a lot of it kind of like remained within power planning. So there's still some parts of what an advisor does, for example, that I need to become familiar with, you know, how they input opportunities in our back office system, how they, you know, like the different processes for certain situations and um making sure that, you know, I'm also going to be compliant in my new role and what I need to do for my files and fact-finding and risk profiling, etc. So there's the transition was kind of like essentially nearly double hatting to learn the new ways in my current role, but also making sure that I'm kind of like still contributing and you know, managing the team and my previous roles.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Do you feel like it's a bit of a superpower being a power planner before you become a financial planner?

SPEAKER_02 30:50

I think so.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

Yeah. I always see it as like the power planning, similar to like the paralegals. Like we're the support staff to the advice, making sure that the advice is technically sound, making sure that the file stands up to and are compliant, basically. So we're there as like the the oh, what's the word I'm looking for? Like we're there as a safety net for the advisors to help support them, but also sometimes challenge them in their advice.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

So do you find like going into a financial advice position, you kind of hold that level of standard really high? So it's not like you know, you know what good looks like.

SPEAKER_02 31:29

Yeah, exactly that.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

Yeah, so you hold yourself to a high standard. But does that hold you back at all or does that push you further forward? Because again, it's that knowledge, isn't it? You know, and also you know your compliance team must love you. Because if you know what you're doing and you know what you're saying and you know what you're writing down and how to present things, there's less risk and worry and back and forth and ultimately a better client experience.

SPEAKER_02 31:48

Yeah, I think so as well. And I think having that technical knowledge will help in the advice journey and in the advice quality that you then give the clients to make sure, you know, that they essentially end up with really great client outcomes personalized to them.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Great stuff. Tell me a little bit about this new role that you're in then. So the remote financial planning position, day-to-day types of clients you work with, what does it look like? Because not many people do that type of role.

When To Move Firms For Growth

SPEAKER_02 32:12

So day to day, I'm still quite new in the role, but it'll essentially be, you know, making sure that I've got um client um annual reviews. Um, and if client comes to me in in between for like a standalone, like oh, I'd like to withdraw money for this, or I'd like to, you know, my circumstances have changed. Let's relook at my financial planning. Um, so I'm still very early on in the role, I would say. Um still familiarizing myself with the clients that I have. Um basically booking in meetings, especially coming up to the annual review. We've got the um taxi rend coming up in April. So I'm expecting to be quite busy over the next two, three months until that happens, you know, making sure that the adva the clients are using up all their allowances, their ICE allowances, pension contributions, etc.

SPEAKER_00 33:00

So is that working with like existing clients that are passed across to you from other areas of the business? Um are there people that come direct in? Or are you on the telephone making loads of cold calls, trying to phone people up and trying to book people in? How you know, how do you how do you get to get in front of clients basically?

SPEAKER_02 33:18

So right now I've got a client bank from the company, um, essentially an ad uh an advisor because previously left and I've taken over his role. Um so I've got basic a ready-made client bank there for me to work with. Um, but also as part of the role, I'm also expected to, you know, like build my own client banks over time and go out and network and you know, like contribute myself as well. So it's a mix of um the starting is easier in that sense because I've already got a ready-made client bank. It's not, you know, I'm starting from scratch and I have zero clients and I have to build my own client bank. So I would say it's a relatively easy transition that will then, you know, I can use that as a as a base to then grow from there and potentially over time, you know, bring in my own clients and my own client bank.

SPEAKER_00 34:10

Was that always part of your plan as well when you visualized um your journey into becoming a financial planner? Was that another reason why you took the power planner route? Because it felt more, I guess, secure and structured than say going straight into like an academy self-employed and having to build your own book in 12 to 24 months or go bust. Yes.

Qualifications And The Road To Chartered

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Yeah, that was a big decision maker for me because I wanted an employed role and I wanted, like you said, something more structured where it gives me time to learn from the technical knowledge from power planning rather than going straight into like an advisor academy and leaving the academy after the training and exams and essentially starting from scratch, self-employed, and going out and looking for my own clients. I think I wanted something, I won't say easier, but it probably is easier rather than going self-employed directly.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

Love it. And when you look at Titan Wealth as a company, how do you think about your future when you're there? Does it excite you? Is there opportunity, um, ways for you to develop? Do you see it as an ecosystem where you could stay for a long time?

SPEAKER_02 35:13

Yeah, I think so. So Titan Wealth is such a, you know, like a big growing company. And with a big growing company, there's always going to be opportunities. And I myself moved into an opportunity fairly recently due to the fact that the company is growing and we're acquiring, you know, more businesses. So we've got more clients to service and, you know, like from word of mouth from clients as well. And when they refer their friends and colleagues and family, we then get more referrals from that. So I feel like as a company with a big growing company, there'll be more opportunities in the future if I wanted to go up into the management rule route as a regional manager. If I wanted to go up as like a senior financial planner when once I've achieved my chartered qualifications, potentially. So there's so many different avenues that you could go down. Like I've seen um, you know, um, some colleagues move into a managing director role of a business that we've acquired, you know, someone go into um advice from an admin role. So there's so many different avenues and routes that you could go down just because the company is so big and we've got different offices and different companies within the, you know, like the the head company that you can potentially move around into.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

Move around the world.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

Yeah. Even that.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

Titan Wealth International. I'm heading out to Dubai on on Wednesday to meet the team and to and to do some podcasts with them. Nice. Yeah, you spent time in Brunei, Malaysia, you know, you both enjoy Kuala Lumpa.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Does international advice interest you? I mean the world's a very global place, clients are moving around. There's a lot of work that can be done across borders. Is that interesting to you?

SPEAKER_02 36:56

I think it's definitely something that I've considered, um, especially when Titan acquired the Dubai office, for example. And I and over time, who knows, maybe we'll have more offices in Asia and you know, Americas. So it's definitely something that I have considered and it might be a potential one day. Um, just because I like growing, I like learning new things. So once I feel like I'm stagnant and I'm not learning new things, I get bored. So I need, I need the next thing, I need something else to kind of like excite me. So learning or moving abroad into one of the international offices, you know, you've got different tax regulations, you've got um different compliance, you've got different regulatory um stuff. So it's different advice as well, because again, different qualities, different products, different qualifications. So it's definitely something that I've thought of, and it's there in the back of my mind as a potential future option if that's a route that I wanted to go down.

SPEAKER_00 37:56

I also love as fact, you know, as well. They're doing a lot around the repatriation. So clients coming back to the UK.

SPEAKER_02 38:01

Yeah.

Transition To Desk-Based Advising

SPEAKER_00 38:02

You know, there's some advice that needs to be done there as well. It talks about America, Titan Wealth have acquired a business out in America that's going through at the moment. So that's really cool. So America is such an interesting place. I'm very excited about getting stuck into America myself, and this is one of my plans for 2026. Nice to get out of there and start building a podcast in America. You've heard it here first. Put it out there now. Um, I mean it's 370,000 financial advisors in America. Yeah. There's about 28,000 in the UK.

SPEAKER_02 38:28

Wow, yes. Quite a big difference then.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

It's huge, yeah, it's a massive difference. So, you know, it's a huge opportunity. I found as well that a lot of UK advisors do like to listen to and follow the financial planners over in the USA and vice versa. So when I speak to a lot of US advisors, they really like listening to um my podcast. I get a lot of American listeners and Australian listeners as well listening to the UK side. So I think a transatlantic opportunity for the financial planner life has got to be on the cards, right?

unknown 38:57

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 38:58

Love it. So look, so much opportunity at Titan Wealth. Sounds like you've found a place where your ambition is encouraged.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

That's really important. Um, and also a place that supports women, right? There's plenty of women working at Titan Wealth, and that's also a good thing for the financial planning profession. Um, and you being a guest on the financial planner life today is only going to attract more women into the profession. You saw Percy Baxter, Natasha, and uh here you are today on the podcast, just like she was. So we absolutely love that. Um, I'm gonna ask you one question before we finish up. Um what does one titan mean to you?

SPEAKER_02 39:37

I think one titan to me means kind of like we all work together for better client outcomes to, but also we all work together to kind of like find solutions, to make improvements, to um to grow essentially, you know, grow as a business, grow as a company, grow, um, grow client outcomes. It's it's just lots of potential there.

SPEAKER_00 40:01

Lots of connectivity.

SPEAKER_02 40:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

I love it. Well, Ella, thank you so much for coming on the Financial Planner Live podcast. What a fantastic full circle moment for you. Yeah, it really is. Thank you so much. And good luck.

SPEAKER_02 40:12

Thanks so much, Sam, for having me. Cheers.