Award winner puts theory into practice
Despite spending many years working as a business development manager, Jon-Paul Hale says there were still things that surprised him when he jumped the fence to become a financial adviser.
Wednesday, June 17th 2015, 6:00AM
by Susan Edmunds
He was named Insurance New Adviser of the Year at last week’s National Advisers Conference Gala Dinner.
Hale has been an adviser since 2012, when he made the switch from a role as business development manager at Newpark.
Previously he had worked for RentSmart and New Zealand Home Loans.
Hale now offers risk advice through Willowgrove Consulting.
“I circled around it for five years, it was more a case of I avoided making the leap for five years, working as a BDM. It seemed to be the next step, rather than teaching advisers how to do their stuff, to actually go and do it.”
Hale said he chose not to buy an existing client base and instead set about building a business from scratch. Progress had been gradual but solid, he said.
He had spent years helping other advisers navigate a business start-up but still found it surprising how difficult it was to avoid some of the common pitfalls, even those he knew were coming, he said.
“Unexpected things like clients doing things where you thought you had a good relationship, an understanding, and they back out. You think how did that happen? Sometimes you’ve got to learn you don’t always get an answer and you just move on and carry on building.”
He said he was in the process of looking for premises for his business as he had expanded to the level where support staff were needed.
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