Getting to Know: Simon Hassan
Who are you and what do you do?
I am Simon Hassan and I am a professional financial planner.
How did you get into the industry?
In 1989, in my late 30s, a few years after relocating from Invercargill to Auckland as a secondary school 'senior master' (these days they call that 'assistant principal'), I found myself looking for another career. With five kids and one teaching salary, I thought we would never get financially established in the big smoke. I couldn't afford a job that would require an initial reduction of income, and settled on financial advice after a friend pointed out that few Kiwis were saving enough for retirement, that this needed to change, and that you earn a good income helping. My teaching career had equipped me well to help, and I was confident that I could 'make a go of it' in business, away from the protection - and limitations - of the salaried world. So, in July 1990, I started out with Prudential as an agent (focused on retirement planning and investments). But I wanted to work as a professional. I was keen to work for fees rather than commissions; helping people solve financial problems rather than simply selling them products. I started running regular seminars and experimented with fee-based remuneration (somewhat to the consternation of my layers of bosses). Within a year or so, I discovered financial planning and realised that this was the name for what I'd been trying to do all along. That same day, I joined the professional body (then the IAFP) and enrolled in the Massey diploma! Soon, I was moved into management at Prudential, where I helped set up a fee-based investment planning service. Rosemary joined me there, and then (as happens) Prudential restructured. This was the push we needed and, in June 1995, with another husband and wife team, Rosemary and I set out on our own - as fee-based, professional financial planners. We never looked back!
If there is one thing you would like to change about the financial advice industry, what would it be?
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