Shaping Your Financial Success with James McFall and Yield

How did you start down this career path?

I always knew I wanted to run my own business, and with early dreams of a landscaping business, my career has seen me grow from mowing neighbours’ lawns, to helping clients grow and protect their wealth and achieve their own financial dreams. Ultimately, what drew me to financial planning was that I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping people. In whatever I have undertaken, from tax financial planning with Accountants, into focusing on property and then into, more broadly, the retirement space, my core objective has always been on understanding our clients’ needs and delivering an outstanding client experience.

I started trading direct shares in my early 20s and found I really loved investing, and I was good at it. This passion for making money work for me, inspired me to help others achieve financial success and security. I started in an accounting practice, and was fortunate to be mentored by a principle, who prioritised our clients financial plan first, to support financial wellbeing. The firm taught me the importance of tax structuring, which to this day I view as foundational to great financial advice. Over time, I realised how much of an impact good financial planning can have on people’s lives, and that fuelled my drive to make a difference, while also building a successful business.

I was always motivated to create something of my own, so after gaining diverse experiences in the industry, I created Fusion Wealth Management in 2006. Then in 2013, I took the next big step by founding Yield Financial Planning. Since then, I’ve grown a diverse and talented team, and together, we’ve built a practice that is truly focused on understanding our clients’ needs and helping clients achieve their financial goals.

What inspires you in your role/industry? Why?

What truly inspires me in my role is the opportunity to grow a business that makes a meaningful difference in our clients' lives, while growing a team united by our values, mission and vision. This balance and alignment, means our clients are at the heart of everything we do, and we are developing a thriving business with career opportunities for our team.

One of the most satisfying aspects of our work is seeing clients confidently navigate the complexities of their financial lives with the strategies and advice we provide. It’s fulfilling to witness the moments when clients realise the potential of their financial plans, whether it's purchasing their dream home, funding their children’s education, or reaching the lifestyle they’ve always wanted. It is a real privilege of the role for me.

What keeps me passionate about this industry is the constant evolution and innovation it brings. There’s always something new, whether it’s advancements in financial tech, new investment opportunities, or shifts in market trends. These changes keep the work dynamic and exciting but also allow me to continuously refine our services to help ensure we are delivering the best possible outcomes to suit each client’s needs.

What's your approach to customer service that separates you from the rest?

As a start, knowing who we are here to serve, means we can tailor our service around the needs of our client niche. This includes professionals and business owners, wanting to grow wealth and retire securely.

At Yield, we believe that the key to being a great financial advisor is really focusing on the person in front you. It’s about understanding what truly matters to our clients and what they want their life to look like. We always take the time to listen to each client's unique situation and goals, ensuring that our strategies are tailored to their specific needs.

We’ve developed a unique tool called the ‘client value tree,’ which captures each client's core values and priorities. This tree guides all our advice and reviews, keeping what’s most important to each individual client at the forefront of every decision.

In the planning phase, we often hold a cashflow modelling session with clients, to let them in on our thinking and to share the insights we are seeing. For property investors for example, we can model different purchase or sale scenario’s and explore the impact it has on other decisions that are important to them. This gives our clients the opportunity to have real buy in on the direction we take their plan.

For our ongoing service clients, we regularly review their progress, against the projections in their plan to make sure everything is on track. This personalised approach allows us to adjust their plan as needed, ensuring it stays relevant to their evolving life circumstances.

How do you innovate and stay ahead of industry trends?

Staying ahead in financial planning requires commitment to continuous learning and a proactive mindset. An important way we innovate is through team collaboration and client feedback, like Net Promoter Score (NPS) which is currently 81. We have team planning days bi-annually, to share business outcomes and goals and identify the opportunities we want to focus on in the period ahead. We use Objective Key Results (OKR’s), to crystalise the most important objectives and the key results that will drive the outcomes we need, to really move the dial on what matters most. This all helps to ensure the focus of the team is always on delivering a great client experience, gathering feedback, and making incremental improvements. Focus on great client outcomes is delivering great results, not only for Yield’s clients but for our team.

I make it a priority to attend industry events, network with my peers and engage in ongoing professional development to ensure that clients receive the most current and effective solutions. We take staying updated with market trends seriously, as it directly impacts the quality and relevance of advice we offer.

To complement this effort, technology also plays a huge role - by investing in the latest tools, we can streamline processes and offer the most efficient and up-to-date solutions to our clients. This enables us to spend more time in front of our clients, and less time on back-office administration. We are currently reviewing the market again for database solutions for example, that can bind more of our technology and product solutions together, which will in turn improve our client experience.

Finally, I would say that Yield have developed a lot of our own tools, because we cannot always find existing technology solutions that match our Client Value Proposition. For this reason we are continually evolving our internal process, by leveraging input from our clients and team. This is at the heart of what makes our client experience unique and tailored to the individual.

What is the toughest challenge you've faced in your role? How did you overcome it?

The Royal Commission was a defining moment for the financial planning industry, and like many advisors, I faced a critical decision. I took three months off with my family to travel through South & Western Australia in a caravan, with the overarching purpose, to decide if I would continue in financial advice. Rather than stepping back, I chose to lean in and focus on growth, innovation and opportunities within my business.

During this time, I committed to nurturing my team and expanding their career opportunities. This included guiding some of our team from paraplanning to becoming qualified financial advisors, and actively mentoring young advisors through their professional year.

Realising the synergy between young smart academics, looking to start their career, and what our business needed to service and innovate, we have developed a graduate program and have formed collaborative relationships with universities to provide career pathways for students in financial planning. Turning this challenging time into an opportunity for growth and development has been incredibly rewarding. It’s been all about evolving with the industry and ensuring that we’re adding real value to our clients' lives.

How does working with a team of diverse experts contribute to the success of your client strategies?

Teamwork is the secret ingredient that helps any business go above and beyond. I've seen firsthand how a great team can make a world of difference. Each member brings their own unique skill set and perspective, which means we can approach client projects from various angles. This diversity really enhances our problem-solving and ensures that our strategies are both comprehensive and perfectly tailored to each client's needs.

It’s not just about having a range of skills; it’s about how those skills work together to meet our clients’ needs more effectively. At Yield, this collaborative approach has driven more successful outcomes and elevated client satisfaction, making a real difference in the service we provide.

What are some of your goals for the next 5 years?

Looking ahead, our goals for the next five years revolve around what we call the "Power of 10" strategy. This means boosting our impact across clients, revenue, profit, team, shareholders, and services. To achieve this, one of our key focuses is to streamline our service and to continually remove any areas of friction for our clients or our team. Of course, this includes automation to make our processes smoother and more efficient, so we can better tailor our services to each client’s unique needs. Embracing cutting-edge technology will enable us to deliver even more personalised solutions while staying ahead of industry trends.

Additionally, expanding our team with diverse, talented professionals is also a key priority. By bringing together varied skill sets and perspectives, we aim to enhance our commitment to excellence and continuously innovate our approach. By focusing on these key areas, we believe we can create lasting value for our clients and stakeholders, driving meaningful change in everything we do.

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About Yield

At Yield, we specialise in crafting personalised wealth and retirement strategies to help people feel confident about their financial journeys. Our financial advisors go beyond the numbers and take the time to understand each client’s unique needs. Interested in how we make a difference? Explore our approach and discover more at Yield Financial Planning.