Helping people in need

Gabriel Carey entered the financial services industry after spending 10 years in the Royal Australian Air Force. He joined Rural FundsManagement (RFM) in 2003 and has been with the firm ever since.

“I was doing my Diploma of Financial Planning and RFM happened to be giving a presentation at the time, and I thought, ‘Why am I doing this as a hobby when I can do it as a job?’ So I ended up joining RFM then,” Carey says.

He is upbeat about the ever-changing environment within financial services and how the Financial Services Reform Act has helped strengthen and raise the profile of the industry.

“To me, one of the beauties of being in the industry is you are helping people who are in real need. That’s what attracted me to financial planning at the start,” Carey explains.

“There are so many people out there who struggle with concepts that we might see as commonsense, such as saving some money or investing part of your savings, so it’s a nice feeling to be part of that and to be helping people out,” he adds.

Carey tries to assist the financial planners he deals with grow their practices which is beyond the scope of his conventional sales function.

“I see my role really is to assist financial planners with their business. In some instances I’ve organised meetings with other advisers to address issues outside of the sales side of things just to try and really enhance their business. If it works out that what I’m doing at RFM, as in the investments that we have, if they work out to be appropriate to help grow the client’s business as well, that’s a win-win situation,” he explains.

In relation to job satisfaction, Carey cites the interaction with the broader section of the financial services industry as the aspect of his position he enjoys the most.

“I’ve been very fortunate in meeting the people that I have in the industry. There are some real characters but there are also some genuinely nice people that are there for the same reason as I am, to help people, and that’s a nice thing,” he says.

“The diversity of peoples’ backgrounds is also interesting. I think everyone’s got something to offer, and just to be able to hear peoples’ life stories and being involved with those people is the best thing about the job,” he concludes.

Michael Williams, an adviser with John Hopkins Financial Services, has been dealing with Carey for the past four years and feels the time Carey spent in the armed forces is reflected in the level of accountability and discipline he displays now.

“He’s very professional to deal with. He takes accountability for how his underlying products perform, and makes sure his knowledge and technical knowledge of both the products and the strategies is A class,” Williams says.

He also admires the amount of time Carey is willing to spend to assist others in their professional development.

“We’ve got a team of 10 advisers and he helps out from a training perspective, as well as from a business development perspective, in helping them to build their businesses,” Williams explains.