Getting to Know...Barry Read

Getting to Know this week features Barry Read who is, in a way, an adviser to advisers. Or some may say, someone who likes to make a splash.

Friday, June 5th 2015, 1:26PM

Who are you and what do you do?
Barry Read – Managing Director Independent Development Solutions Ltd (IDS) – We help New Zealand financial advice businesses with compliance management and process development so that they can concentrate on giving great financial advice to New Zealanders.

How did you get into the advisory industry?
In 1987 National Mutual recruited me straight from school. I started off in the Wellington head office as a T&G Voluntary Group Clerk and have been in the industry ever since then. I made the move to Auckland in 1995 with Norwich Union to work in the Broker Division as a Broker Liaison Officer and started working more closely with advisers.

You've worked for insurance companies, a dealer group and with advisers, now you have your own business offering services to them. What made you set up your own firm?
I could see from my work with Newpark Group and the IFA, before the Financial Adviser Act took effect, that advice businesses were going to need help keeping up with all the new changes and that the changes probably wouldn’t stop. I wanted to be able to help keep advisers on the right track and I was lucky to have great support from the likes of Partners Life which meant we could develop the business in those early years.

If there is one thing you would like to change about the financial advice industry, what would it be?
The public’s perception. I am lucky enough to have seen a wide spectrum of financial advice in New Zealand and there are so many good advisers out there I just wish more people could see the good work that I see in our industry. One day I would like to promote the good advisers who we believe do what they say they do and give great financial advice.

If you weren’t in this job what would you be doing;
Explaining to Karen what went wrong…. Actually most people thought I would end up being a financial adviser at some point, and the thought has crossed my mind, but being an adviser to advice businesses around the country is very rewarding, so why work in one advice business when I can work with hundreds?

What’s the best advice you have ever received?
It’s not what happens to you; it’s how you handle it.

You're a pretty sporty bloke by the looks of things, what lessons can business owners take from their sport?
You have to have a goal and a plan to achieve it. I have done the Round Taupo Bike ride a couple of times. The years I set a goal and training plan were so much easier than just doing a few practice rides and turning up. I find it is the same in business. If you don’t have a goal or objective and you are not measuring improvement against a plan, then it is just work. Also if it’s not written down then it is not going to happen.

Which team is going to win the Super 15 rugby comp this year?
The Hurricanes! If they don’t I still think they have provided the most entertaining super rugby games in years.

Are you in KiwiSaver, if so, what's your investment strategy?
Yes I am and the strategy is whatever strategy my Investment Adviser, Tim Fairbrother from Rival Wealth, has chosen for me. To be honest I haven’t even looked at it, but I think it’s in a High Growth Fund.

Outside of work what do you do?
Whatever Karen tells me too? I try and spend as much time as I can with family and friends, I love sport! Watching it live or on TV, or participating, and I really enjoy helping my boys, Tavish and Harrison, with their sport and activities.

What’s one thing people may be surprised to know about you?
My first name is actually Edwin.

Tags: Getting to Know