Financial Planner Life Podcast

Welcome to The Financial Planner Life Podcast. We cover an intimate and honest account of what it’s really like to work in the financial planning profession. Our guests share their stories of success, failures, and learnings, as well as what to expect from a career in the financial planning profession! We host guests at various stages in their careers, as well as multiple roles, to ensure that our audience has a variety each week. Financial planners, business owners, paraplanners, and back-office staff all have their own stories to share, and The Financial Planner Life podcast serves as a platform for them to discuss their personal and professional journeys. The podcast covers a multitude of topics, from mindset and motivation, health and wellbeing, all the way to diversity and inclusion. We approach each episode with the idea that it will educate and spark a conversation within the industry on topics that may not be openly discussed. If you're considering a

Financial Planner Life Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Sam Oakes, with 295 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Sam Oakes hosts Financial Planner Life Podcast, a business show with 295 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Financial Planner Life Podcast

  Building a Financial Advice Client Base From Scratch

  Aug 13, 202647 min

  Laura Fordham's (Financial Adviser at Titan Wealth) route into financial planning wasn't planned. She spent her first year handling the job entirely alone, while her client bank was still small. She lays out exactly what that year looked like in conversation with Sam Oakes this week Laura Fordham's route into financial planning wasn't planned. She started out on maternity cover in an admin role at Barclays Wealth, and it was proximity to the financial planning job , printing client packs and greeting people in the office, that first got her curious about the profession. From there she trained through the St. James's Place Academy, deliberately choosing to stay client-facing rather than build a partner practice of her own, and later moved into an independent firm, before they were eventually acquired by Titan Wealth. Laura is candid about how tough the early years actually were. Building a client bank from scratch inside a heavily regulated industry took what she describes as an "eat what you kill" mentality: real drive, real setbacks and small wins that made the whole thing worth it. She's just as direct about what came later: leaving St. James's Place for independence, learning how to build professional connections with accountants and solicitors without ever resorting to a hard sell, and the responsibility of inheriting clients through acquisition who never chose her as their adviser in the first place. The conversation closes on a wider industry issue. Only around 16% of financial planners are women, and Laura shares her own view on why more women should consider the career, along with what she's doing within her own client base to encourage more engagement from the female clients in the couples that she looks after. Key takeaways from this episode: How an admin role at Barclays Wealth led Laura into financial planning, almost by chance What building a client bank from nothing demands Why Laura chose to stay client-facing rather than build her own business How to build professional referral connections without a hard sell What it takes to win over clients who arrive through acquisition rather than their choice Only around 16% of financial planners are women and what Laura believes needs to change Learn more about Titan Wealth at www.titanwealth.com . Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Drop Sam a message.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Financial Planner Life Podcast

  From Level 4 To Chartered Financial Planner - Is It Worth It?

  Aug 6, 20261 hour

  Lewis Prosser has spent years myth-busting what it takes to go chartered. He is joined this week by David Tait of Redmill Advance. Lewis runs the St. James's Place programme supporting advisers from Level 4 through to Chartered status, and one of the most common myths he encounters is the assumption that becoming a Chartered Financial Adviser requires five years of experience, specifically as a financial adviser. Interestingly, Lewis has never advised a client himself, yet he’s chartered, a fellow across three professional bodies, and holds a master's degree in finance. In this conversation, alongside David, he unpacks the real data behind whether becoming Chartered is worth pursuing at all, including a 2025 market survey showing chartered financial planners earn 31% more income than Level 4 advisers (around £30,000 a year in real terms), and an average 50% increase in business linked to going chartered. Lewis also reveals that he actually found becoming a Fellow easier to achieve than Chartered and thinks that's wrong, arguing the Fellowship should demand more from candidates, not less. Beyond the numbers, Lewis walks through the credit system behind becoming chartered, his own hacks for getting there faster, and why the process requires three years of recorded CPD. He shares how a study text would switch him off after a couple of pages, how he leaned on audio and video learning instead, and how a realistic two-to-three-year plan with mentors got him through it: sacrifices, rugby, and all. David also shares how Redmill Advance is using AI avatars to keep training current and scalable for a growing population of advisers working towards Chartered. Key takeaways from this episode: Why the five-year experience requirement for Chartered doesn't have to be as a financial adviser Why chartered financial planners earn 31% more income than Level 4 advisers, according to a 2025 market survey Why becoming chartered is linked to a 50% increase in business on average What actually changes between Level 4 and Level 6 qualifications The credit system behind Chartered, and Lewis's sequencing hacks for getting there faster Why Lewis found Fellow easier to achieve than Chartered, and why he thinks that's backwards How the SJP and University of Gloucestershire master's programme works for chartered advisers How Redmill Advance is using AI avatars to help scale training for advisers working towards Chartered This episode is for financial advisers weighing up whether to pursue Chartered or Fellow status, and for training providers and firms thinking about how to structure long-term professional development. Learn more about St. James's Place at www.sjp.co.uk , and about Redmill Advance at www.redmilladvance.com . Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Drop Sam a message.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Financial Planner Life Podcast

  Why Financial Advisers Shouldn’t Sign Long-Term AI Contracts - Hardy Michel From Marloo

  Aug 3, 202649 min

  Hardy Michel is the founder of Marloo, an AI tool for financial advisers, and one of the most unusual things you'll hear him say as a tech founder, is that he'd rather you didn't sign a long-term contract for AI - even though it works against him commercially! Spending years working behind the scenes at retail investing platforms, Hardy Michel watched the same pattern play out again and again: people wanting to do the right thing with their money, then panicking and getting it wrong the moment markets got volatile. That observation, more than any grand plan, is what eventually led him to found and build "Shares" in New Zealand, which grew to over 20% of the country's population as users and 250 employees, and later Lightyear, launched across 22 European countries. Rather than build another consumer-facing platform, Hardy chose to focus on advisers directly. He and his co-founder spent six months embedded inside advice firms across the UK and Australia researching the profession before building Marloo, shadowing every role from managing director to paraplanner to understand exactly where time and energy were being lost. What that research surfaced was a profession where a single one-hour client meeting can generate ten hours of follow-up work. Hardy says Marloo can cut an annual review report from 3 hours down to 20 minutes. The conversation also covers a candid warning: Hardy tells advisers not to lock into long-term AI contracts, even though it works against Marloo's own commercial interest, because he's seen firms overpromised and under-delivered by competitors who don't keep pace. He also addresses how Marloo handles client data differently to advisers using ChatGPT or Claude directly, and where he sees AI fitting alongside, rather than replacing, a firm's CRM. Key takeaways from this episode: Why Hardy believes the real gap in financial advice is access, not quality How a one-hour client review meeting can generate ten hours of follow-up admin Why Hardy says Marloo can cut an annual review report from three hours down to 20 minutes Why Hardy and his co-founder spent six months researching inside advice firms before building Marloo Why Hardy advises against long-term AI contracts, even though Marloo only offers monthly ones How Marloo's data handling differs from advisers using ChatGPT or Claude directly Why Hardy sees AI as a complement to a firm's CRM, not a replacement for it This episode is for financial advisers and firm owners weighing up whether an AI tool is worth adopting, and for anyone curious about the research that goes into building software for a profession this heavily regulated. Visit https://www.marloo.com/us to try Marloo. Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Drop Sam a message.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Financial Planner Life Podcast

  How A Mortgage Adviser Built A Predictable Income As A Financial Planner

  Jul 30, 202649 min

  Natalie Cheesman, Partner at St. James's Place, joins Sam Oakes to talk about how she built a financial planning practice to £6 million in funds under management in 18 months, without ever fully stepping away from the mortgage business she'd run for 15 years. In this episode, Natalie explains why a transactional mortgage career, however loyal her 1,200-client bank was, left her wanting something more predictable, and what it actually took to build financial planning on top of it rather than instead of it. Natalie talks through passing the CII Investment Advice Diploma in under a year while still running that mortgage business solo, and training through the St. James's Place Academy while continuing to submit mortgage applications in the evenings and on breaks. She describes the support that got her through those first months as a new financial planner, including a business development manager she'd sometimes speak to daily and an administrative specialist who had her submitting business from day one, and how she methodically worked back through her existing client bank and added mortgage-introducer partnerships to grow from £40,000 to £6 million in funds under management through organic growth alone. She also talks about the moment a client realises they can retire years earlier than they thought, what it took to keep building a business through a genuinely hard period in her own life, and what winning the Mike Wilson Award meant to her after 18 months of work. Key takeaways from this episode: Why Natalie kept her mortgage business running while training as a financial planner How she passed the CII Investment Advice Diploma in under a year while running that business solo What day-to-day support from a St. James's Place business development manager and administrative specialist looked like How she rebuilt momentum with her existing 1,200-client mortgage bank How a mortgage-introducer partnership became a steady source of new business How she grew from £40,000 to £6 million in funds under management in 18 months What winning the Mike Wilson Award meant to her, and the resilience behind it This is an episode for mortgage advisors weighing up whether financial planning is the right next move for them, and for newer financial planners looking for a practical blueprint on client conversion and introducer relationships. Learn more about St. James's Place at www.sjp.co.uk Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Drop Sam a message.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Financial Planner Life Podcast

  How a Financial Advice Podcast Beat £1 Million in Google Ads for recruitment | New Leaf Distribution

  Jul 27, 202654 min

  Dan Hobbs, CEO at New Leaf Distribution, joins Sam Oakes to talk about what building their own podcast has delivered for an IFA Network. He's joined by his father, Founder & Chairman of New Leaf Distribution, Mark Hobbs, whose own scepticism about podcasting turned around once it started outperforming close to £1,000,000 spent on Google Ads." In this episode, Dan and Mark explain why Mark was initially convinced podcasting was a gimmick, and what it took for Dan to change his mind. They talk about why New Leaf deliberately avoided the well worn topics every other network already covers, choosing instead to focus on what it is actually like to become an adviser and what happens in the silence after qualifying, when the phone stops ringing. The conversation also covers how New Leaf supports advisers through retirement and exit, including a striking story about completing a business sale with no contract in place after an adviser's death, and why New Leaf positions itself as a compliance thought leader rather than buying out its own advisers' client banks. Dan and Mark also share what happened after their very first guest, Kelsey Phillips, went live on the podcast, and why New Leaf's own advisers are now lining up, asking to be featured on the podcast. Key takeaways from this episode: Why most business podcasts fail, and what New Leaf built theirs around instead How Mark went from thinking podcasting was a gimmick to backing Dan's idea completely Why New Leaf avoids generic advice content in favour of what it is really like to become an adviser How New Leaf supported an adviser's family through a business sale with no contract in place Why New Leaf positions itself as a compliance thought leader rather than buying its own advisers' client banks Why New Leaf would rather a business stay within its own network than go to an M&A buyer How Kelsey, New Leaf's first podcast guest, ended up with more development finance leads than she was ready for Why New Leaf's own advisers are now asking to be featured on the podcast This is an episode for anyone running a business in financial services, who is weighing up whether a podcast is worth the investment, and for any adviser starting to think about what their own exit from the profession might look like. Learn more about New Leaf at https://newleafdistribution.co.uk/ Financial Planner Life is sponsored by Redmill Advance Whether you're starting out, already qualified, or building a training academy, Redmill Advance delivers expert-led learning, exam support and CPD from Level 4 to Chartered. ✅ Trusted by top UK firms www.redmilladvance.com/fpl Be sure to follow Financial Planner Life on YouTube for extra content about career development within Financial Planning. Reach out to sam@financialplannerlife.com in regards to sponsorship, partnerships, videography or podcast production. Want to appear on the Financial Planner Life podcast? Drop Sam a message.

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Financial Planner Life Podcast. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.