Peter Truong joins Centrepoint Alliance with over 20 years’ experience in the financial services sector, including a stint as an Investment adviser. With a passion for learning and an adrenaline junkie at heart, Peter aims to help advisers adapt to the new world of financial advice, to allow advisers to spend quality time with their clients.
What are you hoping to achieve at Centrepoint Alliance?
I’m really excited to be joining Centrepoint. It is one of a few licensees who truly have capability and infrastructure to help advisers to adapt to the new world of financial advice. My goal is to help practices to restructure and adapt their business for future success. More importantly, allow advisers to help clients who need financial advice, now more than ever considering the uncertainty and volatility in the financial market.
I’ve been impressed by the culture of community in the business and the focus that the Centrepoint team has on giving advisers the capabilities to run their business compliantly while having the freedom to manage their business using the business models that suit them.
How do you see the financial advice sector changing over the next five years?
There has been so much change in the last couple of years, and I don’t think this will be changing soon. Our industry will continue to evolve and change as new legislation resulting from Royal Commission will need to be adapted, and business models will need to incorporate these changes. Advisers and businesses who adapt quickly will stand to benefit significantly because the community need quality financial advice. Opportunities will be significant for those who evolve to the new world.
What are your top tips for advisers to stay connected with their clients these challenging times?
During these extraordinary times, it is extremely important to be proactive and engage clients with clear facts, so they are well informed. Your communication will depend on the demographics of your clients. For most of the general population, communication via email, Face time, Skype and Zoom are everyday technology in the modern world. Some important consideration for good communication with the clients are:
- Make sure your home office is set up correctly - from the office area, equipment and software. It’s so important to be comfortable when you are communicating with your clients; otherwise, you will be distracted, and your communication may be less effective if you are frustrated or have technology failure. Clients need you more than ever; therefore, you want the message to be clear, concise and straightforward.
- Be proactive with clients. This means keeping them informed, educate the client about the potential impacts on their goals and objectives. Then provide the client with a clear, simple and concise recommendation and action, if warranted. It is during these times of uncertainty is where you create the most value and add comfort to your clients.
- Balancing out the level of information is extremely important. You don’t want to oversupply the information, it can be confusing and more importantly create concerns with clients. Therefore, have some amount of positive and educational information.
- Take this opportunity to update and migrate the clients to new forms of communication, educate them on how to use it or provide the client with materials to help guide them through the technology. This will keep the client informed and help you to be more efficient during the distancing period.
How are you managing your health and wellbeing?
I manage my health and wellbeing by ensuring my mind is active; this involves planning what I want to achieve for that day. I structure my activities around:
- Having clear working hours and not exceeding them
- Taking frequent breaks to go for a walk around the block (adhere to distancing rule)
- Chatting and checking-in with colleagues/family/friends on a regular basis.
- Spending at least an hour a day meditating, reading a novel or exercising at home
Who are your role models?
I believe that you can find role models everywhere. Working and collaborating as a team helps me learning mine and others’ strengths. From a career development perspective, I have a former GM (Garry Jeffs) who was very supportive and was instrumental in helping me shape my career journey.
What’s your best piece of advice?
When looking for a new licensee, always look at your strategy, then look for a licensee who have the capability and resources to help you deliver the quality services to your clients. Make sure they have the support, technology and culture that match the needs of your people and services to your clients. With so many legislative changes coming up you need the support now more than ever to keep up to date.
