Douglas Rowe had talked to SJP several times about joining was hesitant. He was running a successful financial services business, but previously, 95% of his work was mortgages. He didn’t see himself as a wealth manager. Fortunately, following a conversation with an SJP recruitment manager, he decided to launch Douglas Rowe Financial Planning with SJP and hasn’t looked back since. Discover in this discussion how SJP has not only supported Douglas to run the mortgage element of his business at SJP, but also enabled him to broaden his services to provide holistic financial advice to his clients. 

Seeing the light 

“I didn’t think I’d fit in.” Douglas Rowe had talked to SJP several times about joining but didn’t believe it would work. He was running a successful financial services business, but 95% of his work was mortgages. He didn’t see himself as a wealth manager. Fortunately, following a conversation with an SJP recruitment manager, he decided now was the right time. After a year of discussions, Douglas launched his business with SJP and brought two administration staff with him: a practice manager and a paraplanner. He hasn’t looked back. 

“I just wish I’d done it sooner. My staff have totally embraced it and they love what they’re doing now. The development we’ve all received from SJP has been fantastic. I take advantage of all the technical workshops on offer, but I also utilise the experience of other Partners. The comradery here is on another level.” 

Commit to change 

Douglas accepts the transition can be difficult. There’s a lot to learn about the offering and where you can benefit clients, but he says you just have to “embrace it, do the training, do the learning, and run at it”. Through his mortgage work, Douglas had extensive connections with solicitors and accountants, as well as through networking groups. This helped him find new clients, but he also scrutinised his existing client bank to identify holistic advice opportunities. Douglas also held a big launch event for his mortgage clients, to promote the change in his business. His practice now has over 500 clients and seven staff members. 

“Frankly, there’s no point in joining SJP unless you want to build a wealth management business,” he says. “You’ve got to be prepared to change your ways – you can’t expect to join and just do mortgages. SJP’s wealth management proposition is market leading, so use it!” After eight years at SJP, Douglas now doesn’t do mortgages at all, but leaves that to his in-house mortgage broker. “The mortgage arm is the same as it’s always been. We still do the associated protection and advice, but we’ve now got another level to our business.” 

 Building for the future 

To someone thinking about the same move into wealth management, Douglas stresses that it’s important to understand and accept the different pace of business. “Mortgages are high tempo business, but now I’ll often have to meet clients multiple times before they’ll proceed. It’s a big change and it can be frustrating, but you’ve got to respect it.” The big win for Douglas is that he’s now building a business with a legacy; one that will provide him with a secure exit strategy when the time comes. “Before, I used to think about the fact I was building something with no intrinsic value. I couldn’t see when it was going to stop. SJP has given me the opportunity to create that legacy and it’s changed my life.” 

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