Lowes Magazine Issue 129

SPOTLIGHT

Rob Quigley joined Lowes just over two years ago having started as a trainee financial adviser in 2018, and quickly working his way up to becoming a qualified adviser, helping people with their financial planning. His road into financial advice followed time in the recruitment industry. “A career in recruitment can be rewarding,” Rob says, “but I was going home every evening feeling like something major was missing. I realised I was lacking a passion for the role. “My father works in the advice profession and although I had steered away from doing what my dad did, as you do, because I knew what financial advice was and what it meant to the people who received it, I found myself drawn to become a financial adviser.” He started as a trainee adviser – “doing the research and analytics and writing the client reports” – but by 2019 he was advising clients. Spotlight on Lowes people

His first role with Lowes was within the client servicing team. “What I like about Lowes is that we are helping a range of people, not just the very wealthy but also ordinary people who have realised the value of advice. They have come to us to help them to grow their money over the years, and to help them achieve their goals, such as giving them a decent retirement. “It is very gratifying as an adviser to be able to sit down with a client, go through the numbers and show them that because of their foresight in saving and investing, they can retire with a healthy retirement pot – or even better, earlier than they expected.” But one of the most satisfying cases he has dealt with, Rob says, was when he was in the client servicing team, helping a client who had unexpectedly fallen on hard times realise he could claim benefits to improve his financial situation. “The gentleman did not feel he was entitled to help from the state system. I was able to show him what he was entitled to and point him in the right direction to claim it. His was a very unusual situation and I was pleased to be able to help him.” Recently, clients have been concerned about the performance of the markets, Rob says. “It’s not typical of market cycles, in that normally when a market fall is experienced, it is temporary and the markets recover within a relatively short period of time. But since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and on the back of the issues created by the pandemic, we have seen a longer period of stock market volatility, which has subdued returns. This, alongside higher inflation and rises in interest rates, have combined to create a perfect storm of negative impacts on investors’ wealth. “Biting the bullet for six months is do-able, but over two years it can be harder hitting and as advisers we appreciate that. “This is when having carefully managed investment portfolios is essential. With the Lowes investment team supporting us, Lowes portfolios have been performing well, but when markets and investments in general are atypical, we have to expect some choppy waters. “Most Lowes clients will know that this is how the markets work and historically, they do rise again. It’s a matter of having patience and looking to the long term. I’d say most clients understand this and are quite stoic in their view. When markets turn and start heading upwards again, we will all feel a lot better.”

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