This month, both Adrian Thorley and Rob Bowers are celebrating significant career anniversaries.
On 16 July, Adrian will have been working in financial services for 40 years. Shortly after this, on 31 August, Rob Bowers will reach his silver anniversary (25 years).
Read on to find out about how Rob’s and Adrian’s careers have developed and discover what plans they have for the future.
Rob Bowers celebrates 25 years working in financial services in August
How did you start your career in financial services?
“Accidentally! I took a year out before reading leisure marketing at university and got a job at Halifax Business Centre. They offered me an opportunity to study while working and I moved internally to Clerical Medical offering life assurance and pension advice.
“The rest, as they say, is history!”
Tell us about your time at Blue Wealth.
“It started out as just me in the back bedroom! Then, I took a small office and Nathan came on board shortly after.
“Growth has been mainly organic since then. We didn’t set out to shoot the lights out or become a huge business, we just want to offer great financial planning to clients over the long term. I think it’s worked so far!”
How has the profession changed during your career?
“Immeasurably. When I started financial ‘advice’ was very much product-led. We earned commission from product providers and ‘planning’ was very much a biproduct that was given away for free while we tried to advise on (sell) products.
“Financial ‘planning’ nowadays is much more client-led and goals-based. The products are simply our tools to achieve those goals. It’s very much shifting from being an industry to a profession.”
What has been your proudest career achievement?
“Building Blue Wealth to where it is now, without doubt. You only ever realise how far you’ve come when you stop and look back at where you were.
“We’ve got a great team, great clients and it’s a great business to be part of.”
What developments are you excited about seeing in your career and the profession in the future?
“Industry-wide, I think there is still a long way to go in terms of professionalism.
“We are far from trailblazers, but I do think we are ahead of most advice firms in terms of how we deliver high-quality advice.
“AI is a hot topic at the moment and while I think it can and will help advice firms in the back office, I’m still very much in the camp that it won’t replace good quality, professional advice delivered by real people.”
“Also, I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to everybody I’ve encountered along the way – colleagues, industry contacts, and especially clients.
“It’s been a fun ride so far and there’s plenty of time to still go until I catch up with Adrian’s 40-year streak!”
What advice would you give to someone entering the profession today?
“Don’t get pigeonholed. Try and be in an environment where you can see as much of the industry as possible and absorb everything.
“I’ve worked with some great people in this industry as well as those who didn’t quite set the bar as high. It’s all a valuable learning experience. In time, you’ll shape your own standards, ethics, ways of working, and communicating.”
Adrian Thorley celebrates 40 years working in financial services in July
How did you start your career in financial services?
“I drifted into it, despite having been determined not to at first.
“I went to a school where it was expected that you went on to university, but I didn’t want to. My parents wanted me to join a bank, as they thought that was a job for life (it was 1984)!
“I had interviews with what were the ‘big four’ but got nowhere. In all, I applied for 40 jobs. Reluctantly, I applied to SunLife, a major financial services employer in Bristol at the time, and got the job.”
Tell us about your time at Blue Wealth.
“I’ve been here nearly five years now. I’d advised clients before but lived outside the UK between 1997 and 2010 when I moved to Devon to work as a product provider.
“At 53, I decided that 42,000 business miles a year wasn’t for me any longer. I was offered an opportunity at Blue Wealth and haven’t looked back.
“My time at the firm has been fantastic. I’ve been supported to bring my qualifications up to 21st century standards and have a better work-life balance. I’m also treated as an adult – just as well as I’m the oldest member of staff!”
How has the profession changed during your career?
“Beyond all recognition!
“There was no regulation in 1984. Looking back, it was like the wild west.
“When I tell my younger colleagues that there was no such thing as email, we didn’t have a computer on every desk, and that there were free lunches in the company restaurant, which had a subsided bar, I imagine they think I’m from another planet!
“Importantly, regulation has significantly decreased – although arguably not stopped – some of the suspect activities that took place.
What has been your proudest career achievement?
“I think individual things like reassuring a client that premiums for the life assurance policy that they had would not increase because of a cancer diagnosis. Then going on to help them make a critical illness claim that allowed them to pay off their mortgage.
“Also, experiencing increased trust from clients as our business relationships develop over time and they realise that I am on their side and have their backs when they need me.”
What developments are you excited about seeing in your career and the profession in the future?
“In truth, my career has probably run its course in terms of advancement. I’m certainly not thinking of moving on to bigger and better things.
“I am excited about the opportunity to help increase the number of individuals, families, and businesses that Blue Wealth looks after.
“The prospect of AI and ‘robo’ advice becoming more popular scares me. But only because I think that the real benefit we deliver comes from empathy and human interaction, which technology can never replace.”
What advice would you give to someone entering the profession today?
“I’d probably suggest working for a larger employer to start with. Somewhere that provides high-quality in-house training and support to obtain qualifications.
“Once you have that grounding, maybe look for a smaller firm that practices real financial planning.
“This will help you to recognise that the value in what the profession does is in the advice and expertise you can provide, and not in the products you recommend. That might mean ‘unlearning’ some of the things that you’re taught early on.”
Get in touch
If you’d like to find out how Rob, Adrian, and the Blue Wealth team can help you progress towards your financial goals, please get in touch.
Drop us an email at hello@bluewealth.co.uk or call us on 0117 332 0230.
