Jason is a partner at Bloomsbury, a wealth management company based in the City. 

He joined the financial services sector in the late 1980s, initially working as a tied agent followed by several years at small independent financial adviser firms, before founding Bloomsbury in 1998.  He is a Certified Financial Planner^CM, Chartered Financial Planner, Chartered Wealth Manager, pensions transfer specialist and qualified discretionary portfolio manager.

He was awarded the IFP’s Tony Sellon Memorial Prize for outstanding contribution to the development of the Financial Planning profession.  His first book, The Financial Times Guide to Wealth Management, was published in December 2011. 

Twitter: @jbthewealthman


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FP: How did you get into Financial Planning and what attracted you to the profession?
Jason Butler: The firm is owned by Robert Lockie, Carolyn Gowen and me. We all fell into this business by mistake in the late 1980s. Robert and I were recruited into direct sales companies and Carolyn took an administration role at Hargreaves Lansdown. We then separately found the IFP in the mid 1990s, as we all felt that Financial Planning was a worthy and valuable discipline.
FP: How long have you been in your current role?
JB: At the beginning Rob, Carolyn and I did everything but we've all done our current roles for about five years.
FP: What year did you start up your company and what was the driving force behind founding it in the first place?
JB: I started the firm in 1998 out of a desire to do comprehensive financial planning through a professional services model, rather than the commission-driven transactional sales model that was prevalent at the time.
FP: What year did you start up your company and what was the driving force behind founding it in the first place?
JB: I started the firm in 1998 out of a desire to do comprehensive financial planning through a professional services model, rather than the commission-driven transactional sales model that was prevalent at the time.
FP What motivated you to set up a model different to the commission driven one that was standard for that time?
JB: I really wanted to do a good job for people and get fairly paid for my efforts. I never liked the commission based sales model as it created potential and real conflicts of interest and was at odds with my values.
FP: Can you tell us about your company? What sort of a company is it and what services does it offer? Does it specialise in particular clients or services?
JB: We are a partnership but we operate, for regulatory purposes, as a branch of Raymond James. This enables us to combine the intimacy of a smaller firm with the resources and oversight of a large organisation.
We work mainly with business people, whether they own their own business or manage a large business for someone else. Common characteristics are that they a) can make decisions and delegate; b) have a degree of control over their wealth and tax planning; c) have interesting and varied lifestyles, whether they are still working or not.
FP: On your website it says the company is are a multi-award winning wealth management and financial planning 'boutique', which provides private wealth advice to a select number of business people with highly complex affairs. Can you describe some of those complexities in greater detail?

JB: Complexity means different things to different clients. Sometimes this means a complex asset structure - a client may have several properties in the UK and/or abroad, trust structures or multiple business interests. In other cases it might mean a complex family structure with several generations involved or where there are offspring from a number of different partners, which creates 'interesting' family dynamics. Complex can also means that the client does not have the time, inclination or knowledge to handle key elements of their wealth planning and this is particularly the case with 'suddenly single' women who have not previously had to oversee family wealth.

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FP: What have been the key lessons you have learned in your time at the firm? What tips would you pass on to other planners?
JB: Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach has a mantra, 'progress not perfection', which nicely sums up what we've learned. We've learned that it's important to have a clear sense of 'why' we are in business and the need to have a great team of really capable and caring people who share that 'why'. Another thing we've learned is that it's essential to continue learning, improving, innovating, and questioning what we do and how we serve our clients.
FP: Can you explain the importance and benefits of your company being an Accredited Financial Planning Firm?
JB: We are a Financial Planning firm through and through; this is at the core of all we do, not an optional extra. We think the Accredited Financial Planning Firm label helps us to convey this point that financial planning is our key service. It also means that we have to assess our business against the Accredited Firms criteria, which is a good benchmark to use.
FP: How has your team/company changed during your time there and what has the journey been like? How many clients do you have and what's the annual turnover?
JB: We started the firm with a part time secretary and me. Since then we've grown the team slowly and carefully to twelve people today. Unlike many other firms, we benefit from Raymond James providing all the regulatory oversight and reporting, custody (via Pershing), dealing and settlement and some aspects of training and development, so all our team focus on client delivery.
Over the years we have 'kissed a few frogs' so to speak and had to part company with people who, although intelligent and talented, did not fit our requirements. We are extremely choosy about whom we recruit for any role, and in the words of a recent candidate 'I've never experienced anything like this at any other prospective employer!' The recruitment process is, for us, another form of marketing. Done well, everyone goes away thinking good things about us.
We have 65 clients and for the period to 31 March 2014 our gross annual revenue is likely to be about £1.35m, of which about £1.15m is contracted ongoing revenue. EBITDA, after proper salaries for the owners, will be about £250,000. Our next milestone is gross revenue of £2m, which we hope to achieve in the next three to four years. This will provide further economies of scale and additional profits that we can re-invest in nurturing further talent, implementing better systems and improving the client experience even more. We are not, however, under pressure to hit that target in that timeframe, and we'd rather not take on a client who is unpleasant or trouble. That's the benefit of being privately owned and entirely self-funded.

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FP: What has been your greatest source of achievement so far in running your business and what are you proudest of?
JB: Asking a selection of existing clients for testimonials for our new website and receiving, without exception, incredible responses (which you can read on the testimonials page of our website). Knowing we really make a difference to families, many of whom we have known for many years, really makes it all worthwhile.
FP: Can you tell us more about your work as an author? What have you had published and are you working on any new projects this year?
JB: I love writing and making complex things as simple as possible. As well as writing for Bloomsbury I contribute to a range of other publications and websites on private wealth-related matters.
My first book – The Financial Times Guide to Wealth Management – was published in late 2011 and it has gone on to sell over 3,500 copies. With a selling price of c. £30, I am told that this is a very good outcome for this type of book. I am currently working on the second edition, which will be bigger and better, with lots of new and updated content, particularly about financial planning. This should be published in late 2014.
I have other book ideas and I am passionate about personal finance education for children and young people so no doubt I'll create content around that subject in the future.
FP: Bearing in mind your passion for personal finance education for children what do you think of Martin Lewis's campaign to introduce finance into the curriculum? What are the key issues to teach youngsters do you feel?
JB: If Mr Lewis has had a part in influencing the introduction of personal finance education in schools then good luck to him for speaking out. The key concepts that young most need to learn are a) budgeting & controlling spending; b) the pros and cons of using debt and minimisation thereof; c) the difference between saving, investing and speculating and the wonder of compound interest; d) the basics of starting a business and entrepreneurialism.

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FP: What has been the biggest hurdle or challenge to overcome for you personally in your career and for the company itself?
JB: Learning to work in a team and trust others to do things to the high standard I expect; nearly going bankrupt in the early years, and more recently doing all the necessary, but un-glamorous, ground work to enable our boutique to become a serious enterprise.
FP: What's the best thing about being a Financial Planner?
JB: Helping people to live their dream so that they are happy, fulfilled and have total peace of mind.
FP: Many planners are concerned about the rising cost of regulation and other threats to their businesses. What do you see as the main threats to your business?
JB: Clients focusing on the cost of advice and service rather than the value being delivered in terms of tangible outcomes and peace of mind.
FP: What do you think the key is to making more of the general public aware of the benefits of managing their finances through a Financial Planner and making this easier to understand?
JB: Ensure that you look at things from their perspective, not your own, and that all your communication and material resonates with their values, concerns, dreams and aspirations in language that they can understand.
FP: If you could change anything about the Financial Planning profession what would you choose and what's the future for Financial Planning?
JB: Get the parents of bright and well educated graduates to realise that financial planning is a profession equally as worthy and financially rewarding as the law, accountancy and medicine. If we can get great young people queuing up for training positions, the clients will follow.
FP: What do you like doing in your spare time outside of work? Do you have any unusual hobbies?
JB: Business is a hobby to me but when I'm not doing that my wife Jane and I juggle a busy home life with two school-aged daughters, two lively dogs, a horse and an acre of ground to keep on top of. I play the piano and am currently learning to play the guitar. I also love keeping fit and lean to maintain strength and energy, so I do weight training, long distance running and swimming every week, without fail.