| Kim Potgieter believes that you cannot plan for your money without planning for your life first and advocates that life planning is an integral part of financial planning. This allows her clients to live their best possible lives by aligning their money with purpose. As Director and Head of Life Planning at Chartered Wealth Solutions, she combines her two passions: helping people with their relationship with money and guiding clients to get the most life from their money in their second chapter. |
How have you entrenched the CFP® mark in your work life?
In our industry, there is often confusion about titles, whether we are financial planners, wealth managers or advisors. The CFP® mark clearly defines us as professionals in our field. Being a professional means having studied for the qualification and always acting with the client’s best interest at heart. This entails offering advice and planning tailored to the client’s unique circumstances, objectives and needs and structuring their financial plan intentionally to enable overall wellness and financial security. The CFP® mark elevates planners as professionals and ensures our dedication and integrity to provide clients with the highest standard of care and expertise.
What motivates you to continuously seek to grow and invest in yourself and your career?
The financial services profession is constantly evolving, and apart from keeping up to date with world markets and changing legislation, our clients’ needs are also changing. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to planning, and planners are increasingly asked to offer a value-added, life-centred service. This opens new fields of learning for planners, including facilitating vulnerable conversations and coaching clients through significant life transitions.
Being a “learner” is one of my top strengths, and I have always prioritised connecting with people I regard as mentors and visionaries to bring new ideas and insights about financial planning back to South Africa. Coupled with my curiosity and love for learning, teaching and mentoring are also some of my top passions. Sharing what I have learned with the industry and our clients speaks to one of my highest values.
What changes would you like to see in the profession?
I would like to see the profession place clients firmly at the centre of what planners do, which includes rethinking how planners are remunerated. There’s still much discussion needed around financial planners being compensated with salaries rather than commissions. This shift could help dispel the perception of our industry as commission-driven and ensure objective advice is given based on clients’ best interests rather than financial incentives.
Additionally, mentorship is another area where I see great potential for growth. With many young professionals entering the industry, there’s an invaluable opportunity for more experienced planners to impart their experience, emotional intelligence and wisdom to the younger generation. Conversely, the younger generation brings fresh perspectives and new ideas from which the older generation can also learn. This “menternship” relationship can enrich our profession and enhance the quality of service we provide to our clients.
What value do you bring to your clients as a CFP® professional?
At Chartered Wealth Solutions, our approach to financial planning begins with life planning. We believe that understanding a client’s life goals, aspirations and unique circumstances is the foundation of effective financial planning. By charging a fee for our holistic plans, we ensure that our advice remains objective and unbiased. This allows us to deliver personalised life and financial plans that comprehensively align our clients’ finances with their life goals.
One of the most beneficial skills we have embraced in our planning meetings is coaching, which equips our planners with the self-knowledge and empathy to facilitate vulnerable conversations and provide mentoring, enhancing the overall benefit for our clients.
