Financial advice, transformed
As a school leaver, Leeds-born Stephen took the advice of his father, a policeman, to take a ‘proper’ degree, studying Law at Nottingham University. Once he’d graduated, realising that a career as a solicitor did not appeal, Stephen looked at other opportunities.
After applying to graduate schemes in the financial services industry, Stephen began his career in earnest at Pearl Assurance, gaining Financial Planning qualifications and a realisation that there were great opportunities to be had elsewhere in the sector. Joining a stockbrokers and learning about portfolio management from scratch was the making of Stephen, and turned out to be the springboard for his future.
Moving to HSBC, Stephen’s experience here enabled him to rise quickly through the ranks as a tied advisor and gave him access to the bank’s superb training programmes. A hard worker and a high flyer, it was here that Stephen learnt the secrets of managing good client relationships, and how independent financial advice would perhaps be far more beneficial for these clients. It was also while they were both at HSBC that Stephen first met Greg.
Moving on to a Leeds-based IFA firm, Stephen entered a whole new world and embarked on a challenging programme of learning, gaining his Advanced Diploma in the shortest possible time. Frustrated at the limited level of service that could be offered to clients, when Greg floated the idea of setting up in business together, Stephen jumped at the chance.
Carried on the tide of Greg’s enthusiasm and Mike’s confidence in the endeavour, Stephen has never looked back. Like Greg, Stephen continues to study towards Chartered status alongside creating the kind of client-focused, personal service that was so difficult to implement in a big bank environment.
When he’s out of the office Stephen really enjoys taking his two young daughters to their beloved ballet and swimming lessons. The rest of his spare time is taken up by regular sessions at the gym that keep him in shape for the triathlons he participates (not competes!) in.
It's this balance of work and home life that helps to create a sense of perspective and a set of values that are very much fundamental to Stephen’s work at Robertson Baxter.