Putting her best fist forward

Discipline is a word that Deborah Kent is familiar with in both work and play.

By day, Kent sits behind a desk and takes on the role as managing director and principal of Integra Financial Planning. But by late afternoon and early morning, Kent is a disciplined boxer.

Now before you organise any headgear for your next meeting with Kent, the only type of boxing she partakes in is the Jane Fonda type - aerobic boxing, or boxercise.

The boxing, which Kent describes as purely for exercise purposes, has kept her in the right frame of mind for her work. Discovered by her personal trainer, of five years, Kent takes out her business stress on a punching bag. Business stress that Kent has endured for the past two years.

Kent is the daughter of an insurance businessman would says she did not originally want to follow in her father's footsteps and work in the financial services industry.

As a girl Kent saw her future among various fabrics as an interior designer. After some gentle coercion from her father, Kent followed the insurance industry path instead as well as its ongoing evolution into financial planning.

Kent began her career with St George Bank in 1986. She moved quickly into a financial planning role within St George in 1988 and stayed with the group until 1993 when she went to Bridges.

In 1996 while still with Bridges, Kent and a fellow financial planner, Di Caldwell-Smith, set up their own practice. The practice, Integra Financial Services, was taken under the Bridges banner until 1997 when the pair left Bridges for the shelter of Charter, one of AXA's three dealer groups.

A less than amicable departure meant a lengthy legal battle was to follow. Following Kent's departure from the group, Bridges laid legal action over client ownership. The legal action lasted more than 20 months, causing massive strain within the Integra Financial Services ranks.

When the air cleared between Integra and Bridges, Kent came across yet another stumbling block. Kent's business partner, Caldwell-Smith fell ill.

At the time, Kent was struggling to shoulder the entire Integra workload of $38 million under management, of which Kent herself is responsible for $18 million.

The clouds of doubt that had surrounded her financial planning practice in the past few years have since lifted. Kent, a recipient of the Money Management Financial Planner of the Year Award for 1998, now sits in her Parramatta-based office after escaping the storm relatively unscathed.

While she has no issues in relaying her past successes and even stumbling blocks and buying out of her partner, Kent says at present her sight is fixed on the future of her business.

At present Kent $53 million in funds under advice through her Integra Financial Planning role.

The business, which began in the mid-90s, has five staff members ranging from an adviser on risk planning, a paraplanner, an administration manager and a secretary.

"I want to be a small financial planning company, that provides ongoing service," Kent says of her future business visions.

"I don't want to get too big. At the moment we have three financial planners involved who continue to provide the services with the clients. I don't want to be with loads of financial planners that you can't control and you lose the personal side of the business," she says.

Integra Financial Planning advises on all aspects of financial planning, unit trust and direct share investments and risk, life and income protection insurance.

Kent, a big believer in staff management, says the group does recruit staff as graduates with one member of her staff, Anthony Pears moving through from a paraplanner to a financial planner in June.

As a staff incentive, Kent pays her staff bonuses and at the end of each year the staff salaries are reviewed.

As well as annual salary reviews, Kent says as part of the group's structure the group holds meetings once a fortnight. The group also has quarterly business planning meetings and a yearly business planning day.

As for training Kent says it is compulsory for each staff member to go through the Diploma of Financial Planning. She says everyone from the secretary up has to do the course and Charter also helps with staff training.

"From an administration point of view, staff have the minimal requirements as well as planning staff holding a proper authority to do their job successfully, not just for the client," she says.

Integra Financial planning currently has more than 460 active clients. Some of these clients, according to Kent, have been seeking advice from her for more than 14 years.

In the software department, Integra Financial Planning uses Visiplan. Kent says the system is vital for client reports and reviews. The group also uses Sandford Securities to monitor the stock market daily.

"Visplan produces the right sorts of reports for our client on a ongoing basis. The software is not limited to only be able to provide technical information in your portfolio, it is very wide and covers just about everybody."

Kent, who has more than 10 years experience in the financial planning industry says as well as having the right staff members, software and backing of a dealer group, a business is very little without its client relationships.

She says that Integra is a very personal group, with clients just popping into the office to have a social chat and coffee. The group also runs a yearly race day as a way of thanking clients and produces a personalised newsletter.

Looking to future days Kent says the group is planning to move into new premises this year, as well as recruiting another financial planner.

"It is time to grow the business. We have been through consolidation phrase now its time to move into the growth," she says.

Fact box

Name: Integra Financial Planning

Dealer group: Charter Financial Services

Location: Parramatta, NSW

Staff: five

Clients financial planning: 460 active clients

Funds under advice: $53 million

Software: Visiplan

Master trust: Summit