Industry Insights - Shaun Sandiford - St. James's Place Wealth Management

Shaun Sandiford, an ICMA Centre visiting speaker, gave us an insight into the world of wealth management. Shaun has worked at St James’s Place Wealth Management for more than 3 years as a Senior Business Acquisition Manager. He is now also an Academy Engagement Manager. His role is to help high quality individuals to become wealth managers by benefiting of the training and support offered by St. James’s Place Academy. During his talk, he introduced the world of wealth management and gave smart business ideas for our careers.

Shaun started his career in 1991 after a degree at Kingston University in Economics. He then switched to the finance world and worked in some Investment Banks and Funds such as Abbey Wealth Management, AXA Wealth and Octopus Investment. He moved to St. James’s Place Wealth Management in May 2016. For him, the main goal of wealth management is to build trust with people. He gave many important tips to succeed in wealth management such as building a long-term relationship with clients, practising language skills, building a personal brand (the reputation is very important), and to be careful of the danger social media.

Shaun introduced the 5 Qs for success:

• the IQ
• Emotional Q
• Political Q
• Resilience Q
• Cultural Q

For instance, the Cultural Q could be knowing the culture and religion of the client, what he might like or might not be allowed to eat. (You can read more about the 5Qs through Andrew Kakabadse's research)

He then told the importance of listing our achievements, analysing our strengths, developing our story and acting our way into confidence. These are key for success.

He also gave some insights of the Financial Services industry and told us that the number of financial advisers in the UK has lowered down dramatically since 1992 (from 250,000 to 21,500 in 2017). He assessed that many jobs will become emotional jobs.

In a world with more and more artificial intelligence, “unleashing the emotional intelligence” will be the key for success in wealth management and even in over areas. For people starting their career in 2020, it will be the leading path of success.

He then had a few words on St James’s Place Academy and listed the 5 main values of the company:

• Integrity
• Excellence
• Commitment
• Passion
• Inclusion

He gave the stages of the St. James’s Place training programme, when completed, turn into a partnership with St James’s Place with ongoing development. In the academy, they are looking for motivated individuals, with a positive attitude and resilience.

The energy of Shaun and his positive attitude are the motto of his work and also of his personal life.

The ICMA Centre and the UoR Finance Society would like to thanks Mr. Shaun Sandiford for this insightful talk!

Etienne Maigrot, Vice President, Finance Society