Why this adviser decided to pivot and target under 50s

Skyrocketing interest rates, high inflation, bank failures, and tech lay-offs are among the factors currently affecting investors and making it tough to stay the course.

However, Mike Miller, financial adviser and founder of the newly launched advisory Emerging Wealth, said that good advisers thrive when times are tough.

“The harder things get, the more value advisers can actually add,” Mr Miller said.

“With potential recessions, with all this legislation, with rising interest rates, there are so many issues and so many concerns now that actually makes it an amazing time to bring value.

“When things are going extremely well, when there’s bull markets and everything’s running smoothly it’s really hard to show value and most clients think they can do it themselves. But as soon as things get complicated and all these different complications come about, that’s when some really good scenario planning and advice is really valued.”

This ability to show value and make a difference in his younger clients’ lives is part of the reason Mr Miller decided to go out on his own with Emerging Wealth, along with the flexibility it afforded him.

“I've got a young daughter and wife that works full time,” he explained.

“I needed that flexibility to be able to work between 10am and 4pm and then do admin outside of those hours.”

His firm focuses entirely on under 50s, in large part due to a pilot program Mr Miller held ahead of launching Emerging Wealth, which revealed that the younger generation “don’t know what financial advisers do”.

“I was doing focus groups, and one of the focus group members said he had to research in Google what a financial planner does because they had no idea,” he said.

“I started asking everyone else and they didn’t actually know, so as a result of that, I then created an 18-point checklist of every area that I look at. New clients will look at the checklist before they come to meet me so they know that it’s not just investments, it’s tax structures, it’s cashflow planning, it’s asset protection, it’s catastrophe protection, all these things.”

Being able to help clients where they need it most was another key factor in targeting a younger clientele.

“For my previous 60-year-old clients, it was all about managing and protecting the portfolio,” Mr Miller said.

“The reason why I chose these 30- to 40-year-olds, is because this is where all the life events happen, and this is where it’s hardest for people.”

From a house deposit to planning for children, life events can be difficult to plan for, and Mr Miller said that there isn’t enough help for people in this age group.

“That’s what gives me the purpose,” he said.

“Just being able to take someone that’s extremely concerned about how they’re going to fund their lifestyle over the next five years and working with them to actually make a plan to fund that and show them how we’re going to maximise their position.”