Turn the clock back a few years and Martin Welsh and Kieran Taylor had no plans to work in financial advice.
But today the two Aberdonians are the proud owners of Granite City-based Welsh & Taylor Wealth (WTW), a partner practice of St James’s Place.
Several former colleagues from the oil and gas industry are now among their most loyal clients.
The pair are both alumni of the St James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy and proving how people from a diversity of backgrounds can thrive in the financial advice market.
We are still a couple of young guys. We love what we do and we are incredibly proud of what we have achieved.”
Kieran Taylor, Welsh & Taylor Wealth.
Mr Welsh, 32, was an engineer in the North Sea energy industry, working onshore in projects and design. He was made redundant in 2016, following a crash in oil prices.
He enjoyed his eight years in oil and gas, but saw the industry go through tough times and realised he would never be in control of his future.
Keen to find work that would provide stability and over which he would have more control, he went to a careers fair and met the team from St James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy.
They opened his eyes to the opportunity for people different backgrounds to become financial advisers, but it was the entrepreneurial side of it that particularly attracted him – the idea of setting up his own business.
Mr Taylor, 29, also had a good job in the oil and gas sector but was frustrated by the industry’s boom-and-bust cycle.
Business would be good only to crash a few years later,” he said, adding: “I asked myself, did I want to link my whole future to the price of a commodity?”
He told a recruitment specialist he was interested in “something in finance”.
Mr Welsh and Mr Taylor had never met before they joined the St James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy. Mr Welsh signed up in 2016, aged 26, and started a six-month course in Edinburgh. Mr Taylor was part of the next intake, also studying for six months to qualify as a financial adviser.
“Many of the candidates on my course were from a financial advice background,” Mr Taylor said, adding: “I was very much the odd one out but it didn’t hinder me.
“The move from working to studying again took a bit of adjustment, particularly around taking exams, but I had a reasonable amount of business acumen. I had also developed some good problem-solving skills in my days working in oil and gas, and this is one of the fundamental requirements for an adviser – it’s what you do with clients every day.”
Mr Welsh added: “My previous experience was very much from the design side. So, the need to analyse and interpret information was something I was very comfortable with. I was also good at taking technical information and communicating it in a way that people would understand. This would later become crucial when dealing with clients.”
The pair finally met after graduating from the academy. They had both joined an existing practice, but with so much in common and a desire to take control of their future they decided to partner up.
Youth on their side
WTW has now been trading for two-and-a-half years. It employs four support staff and recently took on another adviser, who also trained with the St James’s Place academy.
The founding duo believe their relatively young age can be an advantage.
Mr Welsh said: “We are not what I would describe as your typical financial advisers. We want to offer our clients something different from the old school. We bring a great deal of energy, and we are embracing technology to provide a different kind of service.
“People don’t want to start working with someone who is winding down to retirement.”
Watch out for an expected surge in online scams this summer
Former Aberdeen oil and gas worker and carer wife ‘crushed’ by cost-of-living crisis
With about 650 clients on the books, the pair aim to grow the business in a sustainable way.
“It’s not about being the biggest but the best,” Mr Welsh said, adding: “We want to take on the right kind of client. We have a lean model and want to grow organically.”
Mr Taylor said: “We are still a couple of young guys. We love what we do and we are incredibly proud of what we have achieved.”
Conversation