Engineering success as a financial planner

“I never enjoyed engineering. I probably chose the wrong profession,” is how Peter Kirk, managing director of Protax Financial Services in Springwood, Queensland, describes his first decade in the workforce.

However, for Kirk, with a father and brother already involved in the engineering profession, and having successfully obtained a study scholarship, his choice of vocation seemed ready made.

So, despite his great love and aptitude for mathematics, Kirk graduated with degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering in Durban, South Africa.

But Kirk was given a second chance to pursue his passion for numbers when, in 1986, he emigrated to Australia.

“When I arrived in Australia, I wanted to do something different. I knew I should have originally done either accounting or financial planning and I knew that it was that line of work that I was still interested in,” Kirk says.

Upon arriving in Brisbane, Kirk’s break into financial services came through the insurance industry. In 1987, he joined IFMA as an agent and worked through to 1991 with Capita and Friends Provident.

Also during this time, Kirk began his Diploma of Financial Planning (DFP) studies through Deakin University, a course he completed in 1991.

Through IFMA’s association with Financial Wisdom and the number of IFMA agents with proper authorities from the group, Kirk also took up a proper authority with Financial Wisdom and became one of the group’s senior planners.

Kirk describes himself as a one-man operation back in those days, consulting to accountancy firms and building up his network of contacts from scratch. But his initial experience of selling insurance policies and savings plans also showed Kirk a side of the business he knew he did not want to pursue for the long haul.

In 1991, Kirk transferred his proper authority to Protax, with a substantially greater client base and knowledge of the industry. And in 1994, he gained Certified Financial Planner (CFP) status.

It was also in the early stages of his new career that Kirk discovered his previous occupation, coupled with his natural interest, gave him a good rapport with accountants.

This ability to relate well with accountants was also the factor behind Kirk joining Protax, as the group focused on providing support to accounting firms.

“The reason for changing proper authority was the attraction of working with accounting firms, and Protax gave me the opportunity to network and expand my client base,” Kirk says.

Ten years have since passed and Kirk now manages a practice with $90 million in funds under management and 450 clients, 90 per cent of who pass through referrals from the four accountancy practices with which Protax Financial Services is aligned.

The past three years, in particular, has seen a surge in business expansion, with the group’s support staff growing from one to seven, including two paraplanners and a planning manager.

In the past 12 months, two further offices under Kirk’s Protax banner have been established — one on the Gold Coast and the other in Sunnybank, Queensland. Both have full-time financial planners, with Kirk as joint director and partner.

Kirk’s passion for his profession is evident in his resistance to taking out his own dealership, a move he believes would thrust him more towards the management side of business and away from what he really enjoys — working with clients.

At the same time as focusing on business growth, Kirk has presented educational finance seminars to year 11 and 12 students at a local public high school.

Kirk was invited to speak to students who would soon be entering the workforce and who were struggling with general finance information. Some of the issues covered with the students included compound interest, consumer finance, saving and avoiding credit card traps.

The seminars proved so popular that what was originally meant to be two presentations, turned into 10. “Going forward, clients will be younger, and we need to adopt strategies. Exposure to a financial planner at school level will mean they are more comfortable when they approach a financial planner later in life.”

When not consumed by his busy planning life, Kirk spends time involved with what he calls the love of his life, running.

This once self-confessed marathon addict and silver medal winner of the Comrades Marathon, a 92 kilometre run between the South African towns of Durban and Pietermaritzberg, now enjoys the gentle pursuit of golf.