Spotlight Series - Zoë Malpas

Talk us through your career to date

I would highly recommend not joining a new company right before a nationwide lockdown as I did when I joined Carbon in 2019, however both the welcoming culture of Carbon and the years prior studying and developing within the Financial Planning Team at another firm meant what could have been an awkward transition was actually quite smooth.

At my last firm I had been exposed to all the roles within a Financial Planning business from Administration, Compliance and Discretionary Fund Management to Operations, Marketing and Senior Management. At the time I might have struggled to see the benefit of this, but those years spent studying and working my way through the ranks of the business in my earlier career gave such a good preparation to excel in my role today as a Financial Planner.

Not only for my clients benefit, but also for my colleagues. I am now armed with more than 12 years of experience in Financial Planning, working closely with clients, and liaising with other professionals.

I now service a wonderful bank of clients across Perth, Dundee and the surrounding area.

Tell us about your role and Carbon and why you wanted to work for the business?

For those outside of the industry this might seem slightly sycophantic but Carbon’s reputation within the industry really stood out to me. From their evidence-based approach to investing to their reputation for ‘breaking the mould’ with their younger and more diversified team really drew me in.

Whilst moving to a new employer and team can be daunting, I very quickly knew that Carbon was the right fit for me. Every firm claims that their client’s matter, but it is only when you get inside Carbon and see first-hand that getting the right outcome for their clients really is at the heart of all decisions made throughout the entire business. This filters down to the wider team, who embrace the diversity we have but with that same culture / ethos of doing the right thing. This means that we can service such a wide variety of clients with differing needs and circumstances, allowing us to help more people.

What is it about your role that excites and inspires you?

I love building strong and long-lasting relationships with my clients and their families, delivering a personal and unique experience year on year. I have a real passion for helping my clients improve their lifestyle, educating and supporting them to make informed financial decisions about the things that are important to them. I feel extremely blessed to feel like I am working alongside my clients throughout many of life’s big events and challenges, the good, the bad and the unexpected.

I am continuously inspired by my colleagues and senior management team, who are helping to lead the way in raising the industry standards for providing good and sound financial advice. I feel extremely lucky to work alongside some incredibly gifted individuals who collectively, make Carbon such an incredible place to work.

From your perspective, what are the key financial issues to be aware of in the future?

I could easily go on for hours about the importance in making pension contributions and provision for retirement etc, its actually an area I find very interesting and one that I discuss with my clients regularly, however, today I wanted to look at the future generations, and the need to ensure they are financially educated.

I have already written blogs on this and I am very passionate about financial education and helping my clients educate their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews etc. about finances. I have these discussions with my clients, sometimes involving the whole family where appropriate.

I think the biggest financial issue facing us is where, as a society, we need to save for nothing - with credit, store cards and ‘spread payment’ options all available at the click of a button - how are the younger generations learning to save for mortgages, reduce their debt or to establish what is affordable for them and what is not? How will they learn the importance of making provision for their future, their retirement or even for a financial emergency? How will they manage any inheritance they might receive down the line? Or more importantly, what if you no longer have capacity to make financial decisions and you are faced with the prospect of this younger generation making your financial decisions for you. Would they be able to make financial decision on your behalf? Would you trust them to? These are all questions that should be asked and conversations I encourage my clients to have with their families.

Your Financial Planner should be able to help not just you take steps towards creating the right structure and sound financial decisions, but help you empower the younger generation with the tools to make sound financial decisions in the future without being overwhelmed.

If succession planning and/or involving your family is something you need some help or advice with, please reach out to myself or a member of the team at Carbon.

What is the most important piece of advice you give to your clients?

Start with the basics!!

It may sound simple, but you can never put enough emphasis on the basics. Do you have a Will in place? Have you thought about Powers of Attorney? Have you completed the paperwork to ensure the correct people inherit your pension? Do you have life insurance?

Too often personal finance has been plagued with acronyms, jargon and financial offers that are too good to be true hidden behind small print and ‘a good story’. So often just doing the fundamentals, and sticking to them, are far more powerful than the next ‘get rich scheme’. So often the biggest impact I can have on a client is just helping them to do the small everyday things that accumulate into the big outcome they were looking for at the start.

Read Zoë's blog 'Buy now and pay for it later? Our younger generations certainly will be!' or to speak to Zoë please get in touch.