'A great believer': The value of specialised financial advice

Halstead Financial Services owner Alex Braun not only specialises in providing risk advice, but more specifically, he helps medical, legal and accounting professionals secure income protection and life insurance using his 42 years of experience in the financial advice profession.

Although specialisations within the advice profession have become increasingly commonplace in recent years, a specialisation within a specialisation is still something of an anomaly.

However, when speaking with ifa, Braun explained: “I am a great believer in specialising.”

“Some cardiologists specialise in diagnosing heart conditions, but they don't operate. Then there are those who operate, but some put in a stent, then there are the people who replace arteries, and there are people who do heart transplants. Each one is a specialty,” he said.

“So, my theory about specialising is that, imagine if you're under the knife with a surgeon, and suddenly the lights go out, the surgeon should be able to continue his work without the benefit of having light in the room. Let him do that in the darkness, because he's done his job so often.”

He added: “That's what we call a specialty.”

Reflecting on a previous case, Braun explained that he had a client who had an insurer place a mental health exclusion on their income protection policy application because their doctor had offered them anti-depressants in the past.

However, after digging further into why this happened, Braun sent the client back to the doctor to undergo a psychological examination, which found they were no longer having issues with their mental health, ultimately resulting in the exclusion being lifted, allowing the client to receive full coverage on their policy.

“No disrespect but a person who doesn't specialise in this area wouldn't even consider sending back a client to a doctor, let alone to have a very deep discussion as to why did she in the first place go and see a psychiatrist, and obviously that person has to have a great level of trust to discuss her personal issues,” he said.

Furthermore, he said that advising on life insurance is “far more complicated than advising on investments” due to the additional layers to consider, including clients’ health and personal finances, while also dealing with insurance companies and underwriters.

“I've got two sales to make. The first sale is the concept that it's worthwhile for you to invest a little bit of money to put a parachute above you to make sure that, if you fall out of the sky, you're going to have a soft landing and not kill yourself on the way down,” Braun explained.

“If I sell you the concept, I’m successful, I’ve sold you the concept and you agree with all the logical discussions that we’ve had. [Now] I need to take you and sell you to the life insurance company on two levels, on your health and on your finances.”

While he does service some clients outside his specialisation, Braun said he puts a considerable amount of time and effort into ensuring he stays up to date on the industries he serves the most.

“Sure, I've got clients who are plumbers and panel beaters and electricians, but I've got three preferred professions that I enjoy working with, and that is barristers, medical professionals and accountants,” he said.

“I go to the extent that I actually subscribe to the trade magazine … so when I talk to the medical people, they get a lot of confidence that they know that I live in their world.”