This week on the Financial Planner Life podcast our guest is Karl Pemberton, Chartered Financial Planner and Director of Active Chartered Financial Planners.

 

Karl talks us through his career journey, starting in a banking environment, Karl worked his way up through the ranks, before taking the helm at his father’s Independent Financial Planning firm. Karl drew from his experience in a banking environment, putting a heavy focus on continued training, development and progression for each individual within the business, including himself.

 

Karl goes on to explain the importance of the systems and processes within his business, specifically around the topic of client file management and organisation. What runs parallel with this is the ability to reflect on this information in the form of KPI’s and historic company performance data. Karl outlines how he utilizes this to calibrate both his team’s performance, and the future focus of the business.

 

We briefly touch on the tech-elephant in the room, AI! Karl discusses his thoughts on the benefits and risks involved with the use of Artificial Intelligence in Financial Planning, and what his plan is for incorporating AI into his business with a cautious and calculated approach.

 

Now, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows at the top! Karl talks us through some of the pain points of running a business, from rejection handling, networking to continued personal and professional development. He gives tips on staff retention, generating leads and referrals and attracting talent, three crucial elements for successful business growth and employee satisfaction.

 

If you’re trying to better understand the thought processes of the Director of a Financial Planning firm, or if you’re running a business of any kind, this episode is jam-packed with insightful nuggets of wisdom. Enjoy!

00:00:00 | Intro

00:03:54 | About Karl

00:09:30 | How Karl got to his position

00:11:41 | Training and development

00:21:05 | Systems and processes

00:26:05 | Data Points

00:31:25 | AI

00:35:04 | Client acquisition

00:38:21 | Client generation advice

00:42:31 | Difficulty of growing a business

00:48:22 | Staff retention

01:01:35 | Board of directors

01:11:30 | Impacts of being a business owner on mental health

01:18:55 | Chair of institute of directors

01:26:20 | The future of Karl's business 

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