World domination and Rambo-style fitness training are all in a week’s work for this adviser
Monday
This morning I have a session with a personal trainer in the first week back into the office since the lockdown. It felt good.
All staff arrive in the office for the 11am post-lockdown Covid return-to-work briefing and new health procedures. The day was spent setting up computers, catching up and carrying out client work.
Tuesday
This morning I can hardly move, after the session yesterday. The set of steps to my office and the three further little steps to the office kettle are torture.
In the afternoon I have a scheduled client meeting over the phone. There will be no face-to-face meetings yet for a few weeks until we establish office protocol.
The meeting went about as well as expected when you tell a client that, since the last annual review, they have lost 20 per cent of their portfolio. Luckily we had kept in touch during the lockdown, so weeping was kept to a minimum.
Wednesday
Today, the throbbing pain in my thighs has reduced to a dull ache and I no longer walk like John Wayne. Unfortunately, I had another session at the gym this morning, where my arms were worked.
My morning consists of looking at the cases that need to be submitted to the compliance department for checking. I am a pension specialist and undertake more than my fair share of defined benefit transfers.
The afternoon appointment is a Zoom meeting with a client. All pension transfers have now arrived and they want to sort out their income needs for the next year. Twenty minutes after the meeting starts we can finally see each other as the first 10 minutes felt like we were in a poorly dubbed foreign movie. Roll on Thursday.
Thursday
Ok, so lifting my arms above head height is no longer an option, and my pen feels like a barbell.
Other than that, the day starts well. We have a 10am meeting with the software people who are building a bespoke overlay to salesforce for our new customer relationship management system.They come up with tasks that take the rest of the day to complete.
Friday
This is one of my favourite days, where I get to read the fantasy novella that is ‘Diary of an Adviser’ – the general gist of which most weeks is an adviser who, while engaging in a world takeover with their company, is undertaking a lot of fitness and jogs to the office, where some brand new high-net-worth client is falling over themselves to get advice.
The adviser later heads home for a perfect social evening/weekend.
Me, I’m going home to fall into my bed and rest my sore body.
Lee Clarkson is a director/financial wealth adviser at Paladin
