back-arrow

Back

At The Coalface – Nov 15 2015

AT THE COALFACE
Raymond Pecotic

The Empire Financial Group boss tells Ben Harvey the GFC taught him some important lessons in business

Q. why did you enter financial services?
A. I think this profession allows for a convergence of two of my strongest traits — I genuinely enjoy meeting and getting to know people and I have a strong acumen for figures and finances. In this line of work both are incredibly important. I used to spend my university holidays in my father’s accounting practice coding bank statements and lodging tax returns, all the while watching the financial services person in the practice getting to know and building relationships with clients, and that appealed to my personality.

Q. What is your favourite part of the job?
A. The satisfaction I receive, when after meeting with a client multiple times, we can present our final findings and let them know that they are going to be financially OK. Many people have the right tools, but have extreme anxiety about how to pull it all together to make it work — witnessing the relief they feel when we show them how really makes my day.

Q. What is your investment approach?
A. In our practice we unashamedly put financial strategy first, and focus on the investment selection second. Hived through the global financial crisis relatively early on in my career and that experience taught me that as an adviser putting your entire value proposition on investment performance can be flawed. The right insurance and estate planning is a vital foundation to that financial strategy. Only once that is in order will we work with the client to choose the right mix of investments. We keep it simple and transparent. Managed funds or direct share ownership in easy to understand holding structures. We are also different because we feel really comfortable working with property investors.

Q. Name one regulation you would change.
A. Regulation, particularly when people’s money is in question, is necessary and important and no professional practitioner should resist it. However, constant changes don’t give clients the certainty they crave, neither in the rules within which they can manage their financial affairs, nor in the delivery of the service that they can expect their professional advisers to provide them.

Raymond Pecotic is managing director of Empire Financial Group

You May Also Read

Beat the Super Reaper

Beat the Super Reaper

This article first appeared in The West Australian, Your Money, 6 November 2023 You may have heard the saying that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Death and probate taxes were abolished throughout Australia by the early 1980’s, however there is a...

read more
5 Must Know Tips for all GESB Super Members

5 Must Know Tips for all GESB Super Members

This article was originally published in The West Australian, Your Money, on 22 May 2023 Preparing for retirement well ahead of when you’re due to finish work is important to ensure you have sufficient time to seek the right advice, and enough working life runway to...

read more

Sign up to our newsletter to receive our latest and best articles straight to your inbox.