Between Meetings With Matt Heine

In this episode, Matt jumps into the hot seat to be interviewed by Peita Diamantidis on the Ensombl AdviceTech podcast. They discuss how advisers are using technology to differentiate their offering and build their client value proposition. Matt shares the efficiencies of managed accounts during turbulent markets, integrating ESG into the offering, cyber-security considerations for firms, and how Artificial Intelligence is being used to provide insights, manage back-office administration and deepen client relationships. He also chats through the continuously evolving client expectations of technology and how Netwealth is providing technology and services to help advisers meet these expectations. Listen to more Ensombl AdviceTech episodes: https://ensombl.com/series/friday-advicetech-podcast/

Picking up from episode 35, Kendall Flutey, Co-Founder and CEO of Banqer, now shares how experiential learning with Banqer Primary has expanded to high school children, giving them the chance to increase their financial literacy and capability that translates into real life. She describes how Banqer has helped to uplift the financial capability of parents, teachers and kids by engaging them on the financial education journey of their children, and relates how the principles of financial literacy amongst children can be expanded to adults. Kendall discusses the exciting potential for AI to lend itself to personalised learning pathways and what Banqer is doing to help prepare students for their careers and financial future in an uncertain world ahead. Finally, she chats through the challenges and key learnings along their growth trajectory and the healthy tension between profit and purpose on their journey to becoming a social enterprise for-profit. To learn more and refer a teacher, visit Banqer.co/netwealth

Listen to Matt Brinker, Managing Partner of Merchant Investment Management, share how he built United Capital, a platform to help advisers scale their businesses, into a $25bn behemoth before its acquisition by Goldman Sachs. Matt reveals why he then changed focus from uniformity and scale to celebrating diversity in business structures and individuals with Merchant. Brinker delves into his observations of the success factors of firms that have been able to scale, how digital tools can bridge the client experience gap, the growth of alternative investments in the US, and exciting developments in global markets. He also provides insightful commentary on investment strategy, capital duration, and the importance of building long-lasting, sustainable businesses.

Hear Brent Brodeski, CEO & Founder, Savant Wealth Management discuss his journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur and leader in the financial industry. Brent shares his personal experiences and how he overcame challenges, made tough decisions, and developed a strong vision for the future of his company. From his early days as a stockbroker to founding Savant Wealth Management, Brodeski shares valuable insights on building a culture of growth, selecting the right partners and staying true to core values. Learn how one of the most respected figures in the financial industry cultivated leadership skills and implemented effective strategies for managing teams and driving innovation and growth.

Listen to Jennifer Risher, Author, Speaker and Co-founder of #HalfMyDAF, as she shares her wealth journey from early days at Microsoft and Amazon. Jennifer explains the emotional and sensitive side of money with real life examples of what she terms as 'the embarrassment of riches', a title she almost used for her book, and the isolation that wealth can bring. She unpacks the vital support role her adviser played and why she penned the book, “We need to talk“. Jennifer reveals how peer networks helped her learn more about investing and her power to create change. This led her to philanthropy and co-founding an organisation to encourage Americans to donate half their donor advised fund, awarding millions to non-profits. www.halfmydaf.com www.JenniferRisher.com

Listen to Nathan Fradley, Director of Ethos ESG Australia and Senior Adviser at Tribeca Financial, as he recounts his career journey into ethical advice and why he brought an ESG data and software tool for advisers (Ethos) to Australia. Nathan unpacks the micro and macro impact of financial advisers on society and the economy, and the need to enhance the reputation of the industry for clients and the next generation of advisers. He identifies opportunities in the client experience from a platform perspective and in the delivery of advice with technology, particularly with the Statement of Advice (SOA). Nathans explains how Ethos is solving the challenges of providing advice to clients on ESG investing in a personalised and transparent manner.

Hear Ben Krasnostein, Managing Director of Kilara Capital, trace his career path into the world of impact investing, where he finally began to realise his aspiration to combine profit and purpose and founded Kilara Capital, an investment management business focussed on both impact and commercial returns. Ben unpacks the responsible investment spectrum and the need for taxonomies and standards, decarbonisation companies they currently partner with, and the structural positions they take in them. He chats through some of the common mistakes he sees founders or small business owners making and the qualities they look for in a founder. Ben identifies key impact areas he believes will drive significant change, advantages of certain business structures, and resources to learn more about the growing area of impact investing.   Learn more about Kilara Capital: https://www.kilaracapital.com/resources Kilara in the news: https://onimpact.com.au/kilara-capital-reports-on-impact-performance-against-a-global-benchmark/

Listen to Luke Sayers, Founder & Executive Chairman of Sayers, as he shares the philosophy of Sayers, a fast-growing investment advisory, named LinkedIn Startup of the year 2021. Luke relates how his consulting career path took him from growing up in a small Victorian country town to becoming the youngest managing director at PWC, president of the Carlton Football Club and founder of Sayers.  He explains what he means by the “new quo“ and why he believes in not just doing things better but in doing better things. Luke outlines the importance of visioning to transform an organisation, and even the country, and why his restlessness with the status quo led him to found Sayers.

Hear Dr. Isaac Poole, CIO of Oreana, share how his interest in economics launched a career that took him around the world, spanning government and corporate roles in economic strategy, before finally moving into the wealth profession. Isaac offers guidance for those starting their career and shares the importance of mentoring for the industry as he sees it move to becoming a profession. He discusses key differences between the Hong Kong and Australian markets, the role of investment beliefs and governance when providing advice, and the changing availability of illiquid assets over the next decade. Isaac reveals his recent role at the University of Tasmania and why he thinks education is critical to the future of finance as a profession.

Listen to Steve Tucker, Chairman & Founding Partner of Koda Capital as he chats through how he became a young CEO of MLC, why he started Koda Capital, the changes he has spearheaded and the future of the finance industry. Steve shares how he began a revolution in the advice industry’s commission trails system and where he sees the industry heading in the next 5 years, with independent advice and the move to becoming a profession. He discusses the philosophy that Koda is built on, why he was one of the founding executives to sign up to the banking and finance oath and imparts wisdom for those wanting to start a business.

Hear David Wright, CEO & joint founder of Zenith Investment Partners, as he recounts his 30-year career journey in research and investment analysis, the evolution he has seen in the finance industry and the impetus for starting Zenith over 20 years ago. David shares what he’s learnt from building his own business and why he enjoys the educational aspects of his role the most.  He discusses the trend towards outsourcing investments and managed accounts, and expands on some of the challenges with ESG and its interaction with other investments as well as revealing two major areas of focus with carbon offsets and gender diversity.

Listen to Santiago Burridge, CEO & Co-founder of Lumiant, as he takes us through his financial career, the changes he’s seen in the wealth industry, and what led him to start a new tech company mid-career. Santiago discusses why it’s important for advisers to focus on non-financial family members and to understand the role of life goals and values when providing financial advice. He shares the challenges of establishing a tech-start-up, and what he‘s learnt from the US market, in terms of technology and advice. Santiago also describes how his core values, of caring about what’s important to people and doing what’s right, have led him to this point, and their impact on the rise of Lumiant to become a global company in the short space of two years.

Hear Catherine Robson, Founder of Affinity Private Advisors, discuss why recognising your leadership style, building relationships with staff and harnessing technology is crucial to scaling a business. Catherine reveals the joys and responsibilities of her current roles as non-executive director of Equity Trustees, Greater Bank, and Lumos, as well as the chair of Scale Investors. Reflecting on her path to becoming a non-executive director, Catherine shares her insights as to why not being a subject matter expert can be beneficial and provides advice for those thinking about being a director. Catherine explains the concept of an investment club, her podcast that focuses solely on women raising capital, and what's most important to her when choosing an early-stage investment.  

Listen to Kristine Brooks, Head of Australian Business at Milford, as she recounts her journey from the trading floors of Perth to her position today, helping to lead the specialist investment firm with just under $17bn under management. The combination of Kristine’s competitive nature and emotional intelligence saw her, during her time at Zurich, successfully manage the acquisition of Macquarie and OnePath’s life insurance businesses. In this episode, Kristine shares how her people-centric leadership style helped navigate the integration of all three cultures during this time. She also explores the recent Milford report, ‘Financial Advice Reimagined’, which reveals how understanding a client’s emotional relationship with their money can ultimately lead to delivering better advice.

Hear how Jonathan Christie, Managing Director of Oreana Financial Services (Australia), came to create the independent licensee in 2018 and has since overseen its growth from just one client at inception to now having 33 clients and around 3000 advisers under management. Driving their growth has been Jonathan and Oreana’s ability to retain experienced and passionate advisers, as well as their total respect for the power of governance-led strategies, believing that discussions around governance should always occur before discussions on investment philosophies. Jonathan also shares his views on the future of advisory services, the rising trend of segmented investment approaches, and how regulation is impacting platforms’ ability to create technological solutions for faster advice delivery.

Hear how Martin Franc, CEO of Invesco Australia, accelerated Invesco’s performance – and has overseen their assets under management grow from $1bn to $37bn since joining the company over eight years ago. Martin emphasizes the value of connection in creating deeper client relationships and an internal culture that enables the curiosity required to succeed as an adviser or a manager today. This human-centric approach to investment management has driven Invesco throughout its purchase of Intelliflo, an online platform catering to advisers, and the establishment of Invesco Consulting. Looking forward, Martin discusses how the democratisation of advice - in conjunction with ESG going mainstream - may lead to the next generation of affluent Australians becoming more active, conscious investors, utilising emergent technologies now available around the world.

Listen to Richard Milroy, Executive Director of Private Wealth Network (PWN), an independent membership organisation for high-net-worth individuals and family offices, as he describes the opportunities and challenges of family portfolio management. Richard’s background in events and media adds a new perspective to this complex topic, shedding light on the realities of intergenerational wealth transfer and avenues for better engagement within the family office. He also shares some valuable insights into networking, the beginnings of ESG investment, changemaking through finance, and the current gaps in the advisory sector’s approach to servicing ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

Listen to Paul Campbell, Managing Director of Xeppo, as he shares why he founded data and business management platform Xeppo, the important role of data for business efficiency, and how practises can use their data in a more insightful way to unlock opportunities. Paul discusses the structure of advice in the next 3-5 years, common traits of the best firms at tech adoption, how practises can approach their data strategy and what they need to be thinking about as they embark on the next technological roadmap. 

Hear Paul Bassat, Co-Founder at Square Peg (ex-CEO of SEEK and AFL Commissioner), in our first ever live podcast, as he shares how he went from being a lawyer to setting up one of the most successful tech companies in Australia. Paul talks through his experience and global perspective on emerging technology, the future of customer experience and early-stage tech investing. He also discusses what motivated him to set up Square Peg Capital, a venture capital fund with a focus on investing in early-stage tech companies, as well as the challenges of building a strong tech-eco system in Australia, his view on crypto and some tips on getting started.

Kate Temby, Independent Director of Netwealth and Partner at Affirmative Investment Management, shares what drew her into finance, the early years of her high-profile role in New York whilst balancing a family, and the traits of her favourite leaders. Kate discusses why she is passionate about ESG and impact investing, the various shades of green investing and ‘greeniums’, net zero and transition finance, the availability of ESG data and research, and finally how she ended up in Samoa on hit TV series ‘Survivor’.