I have been fascinated with money and its role in human affairs since reading Lessons for Corporate America taken from Warren Buffet. I haven't always been interested in money and it took a while for me to grasp its significance. I might have even shared some vaguely anti-capitalist views in my youth. Ouch.  ​​​

 

So I wasn't exactly Wall Street material initially (something that's hopefully not changed since) but with degrees in Geography and Sustainable Energy I was destined for greatness, so after graduating I worked trying to reduce our impact on the world through using new technology - what a noble chap I was. I ran projects which used new technology to do this, for example (buzzwords incoming) AVs for safer public transport (Autonomous Vehicles), IoT for more efficient waste collection (Internet of Things), big data analytics and finally the incredible Blockchain technology for everything else.​ It was great fun and I learned a lot, but decided to change direction and focus my time on helping people manage their money better, as the full extent of my appreciation for it became clear.

 

I learned that getting your personal finances in order (which became a mild obsession) was the bedrock on which one's life can be built. It appears to me the sooner you have the bedrock in place, the closer you can live your life to one which is authentically yours. And oddly, the more time and better able you are to tackle problems you are passionate about, for example our impact on the climate. I was captivated, and still am. ​

 

Once I became a financial advisor I decided to set up my own company under a global asset manager - and quickly learnt I would not be able to help people in the way I thought. You have no hope growing your money at the return of the average market. A combination of poor fund performance, which is well documented in the press and fees irrespective of performance, kill investment returns.

 

​I now invest in the public and private markets.