Practice profile: Don’t re-invent sliced bread

Rattigan never had the opportunity to work in a financial planning business before starting his own in 2009. Instead, he started work at stockbroking firm DJ Carmichael where he tried to develop a full financial planning service.

“This lack of experience has been a large obstacle to overcome in my business as we have had to learn how to do everything as we went. This means I needed to immerse myself in the industry and learn from the best,” Rattigan told ifa.

“I coined the phrase ‘Don’t reinvent sliced bread’ as I went looking for the benchmark that others compared themselves to, in each area of my business, and then adapted that to suit my business,” he says.

However, having experienced the global financial crisis (GFC) as a stockbroker meant he was able to learn swiftly the importance of risk management and behavioural finance.

“Too many people make risky decisions without having any idea of the level of risk they are undertaking,” Rattigan said.

As a result, Merideon’s philosophy is to focus on achieving outcomes rather than returns, and to continue client education.

“[Also], we won’t work with a client unless they have a good cash flow control strategy and adequate insurance cover,” he added.

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