I became a financial adviser in the most unusual of circumstances. I had been discharged from the military with a war pension after a number of years of rehab, and had not got the first clue about what it meant. I had wanted to retrain as either a roof thatcher, a dry stone waller or a stockbroker, but was told by the resettlement branch of the military which decided such things for me, that such personal aspirations could not be catered for. I decided that I was a square peg that didn’t fit into their particular round hole, so in the aftermath of the credit crunch in 2008, and on the first working day of the year, I approached a stockbroker and asked them to train me. They must have been sufficiently stunned because they agreed to do so, and I qualified as a stockbroker shortly afterwards. Now, some financial advisers will try to impress you with their long list of qualifications, post-nominals and academic attainment. Me, I’m not bothered about any of that – being a financial adviser and serving my clients to the absolute best of my ability takes up too much of my time.
I hated being a stockbroker. So I approached the Royal British Legion, and was awarded a grant of £6,000 to re-qualify as an independent financial adviser. Everybody reckoned I was mad, but I figured it would be a good time to start a business in financial services, as people would need advice. Initially, my clients were almost entirely all Royal Air Force pilots, because that is the market that I knew. For their part, they wanted a financial adviser who had not only an interest in them, but understood them, their way of life and their pension scheme. The business did conventionally well until 2017, at which point I decided I would ease off a little bit and start to enjoy life a little more. However, the scandal of British Steel Pension Scheme blew up in my face, and what I thought would be two or three months helping out some people I went to school with in Port Talbot, has turned (so far, still) to be a campaign at least as brutal and gruelling as any that I experienced an active service in the military.
In 2019, I had to make a decision about whether or not I was going to embark on expanding the business in South Wales, and I decided to do so employing my first member of staff and occupying a few small offices in Port Talbot. The business exploded, and we opened an office in the north of England to help steelworkers from Scunthorpe and Teesside. Our reputation is second to none, and we look upon our clients as more than just clients, we do the right thing for them. We do not advertise, neither have we had a website until very recently although I have been persuaded of the merits of having one! I have been so lucky in that I have never had a job that hasn’t activated, challenged and enthralled me in equal measure. I consider it an honour to serve our clients, and I feel humbled every time someone says ‘thank you’.
For our work in Port Talbot I was honoured to be awarded ‘the double’ of awards in my sector. A tiny fraction of advisers will win one if they are lucky, but to have the pair was unfathomable. I have always believed that if you do the right thing, if you focus on the basic principles, then success will invariably follow. As I reflect on a working life that is starting to present me with an endgame, I am grateful for having such a wonderful team which is good enough to not only make me look good as well, but which I am proud to call friends. Nathan Cardy leads the next generation, and he is profoundly aware of the burden that command-management and leadership will bring. The future is impossibly bright, I just wish I was ten years younger!
I have been indisputably honoured and privileged by what life has sent my way – if it ended tomorrow, I would have a smile on my face. It has been a blast.
Alastair Rush.