00:00:03 My name is Ian Vincent and I'm a Director of Valiant Financial Consultants. I am an independent Financial Adviser, which is to give proper, independent financial advice to individuals, looking at everything that's available in the whole of the market. The most important skill that an IFA needs is people skills. Is being able to get on with people. The most satisfying thing about my job is looking at a client and knowing that we’ve done a good job. The job is helping people, and it does give an enormous amount of satisfaction to know that a job well done.
00:01:24 When I was ten years old, when I was going through school, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do, or what I wanted to be. I just knew I wanted to be good at it. I was reasonably good at most things at school, most subjects, but concentrated on the ones that I really enjoyed were foreign languages. That was French and German. I went to school for – in Germany for sixth months, by which time I ended up speaking German fluently. And then the next year I went to France for six months, to a school over there, on an exchange programme. Germany in particular I enjoyed, it was down in Bavaria. And I still have a good friend that I met at the school. We sat at the back of the class and took the Mickey out of the world, as 16 year-olds do. And actually, just last month, I drove down to Bavaria to see him and the family, which is a great experience. He’s been a good friend throughout my life. I can no longer speak fluent German but fortunately he’s – he's a good doctor and he speaks very good English.
00:01:58 Having got my degree I still had no – no idea whatsoever as to what I should do. I got a phone call asking me if I was prepared to work as a coach guide in Switzerland. I flew out there, arrived at the hotel, and the hotelier came to me and said – the bus leaves in fifteen minutes. I said no I don’t want the bus, I'm going to walk and just have a look around. And he repeated and said – no the bus leaves in fifteen minutes. And I said what do you mean the bus, I want to walk. You know there’s forty people, it’s the Lucerne City Sightseeing – and you’re it. And so I had a chat with the driver, and said make out that we’re having just a friendly conversation, because I was banking on nobody in the front seats of the bus speaking German, I said, and just tell me what the other guys say – the other guys say on the way round. But if you think on your feet and don’t get phased by people, and I had the confidence there that I knew just that little bit more than the people I was talking to.
00:02:59 Oh I've had several high points. First high point was guiding that bus to Lucerne. And others getting – getting jobs and getting promotions, and – but the highest point has been finding this – this niche that I have at the moment. I never had a plan as to what I wanted to do. What I wanted to do with my life, what I wanted to do with my career. I just knew I was looking for the right career, I was looking for – I suppose looking for happiness, and looking for something that I could be good at. And this is what I know I've found with working as an IFA. I've built up my philosophy over my career, or various careers, that life is full of problems, but there are no problems that don’t have a solution.
ENDS
Ian Vincent
Ian Vincent
My name is Ian Vincent and I'm a Director of Valiant Financial Consultants. I am an independent Financial Adviser, which is to give proper, independent financial advice to individuals, looking at everything that's available in the whole of the market. The most important skill that an IFA needs is people skills. Is being able to get on with people. The most satisfying thing about my job is looking at a client and knowing that we’ve done a good job. The job is helping people, and it does give an enormous amount of satisfaction to know that a job well done.
When I was ten years old, when I was going through school, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do, or what I wanted to be. I just knew I wanted to be good at it. I was reasonably good at most things at school, most subjects, but concentrated on the ones that I really enjoyed were foreign languages. That was French and German. I went to school for – in Germany for sixth months, by which time I ended up speaking German fluently. And then the next year I went to France for six months, to a school over there, on an exchange programme. Germany in particular I enjoyed, it was down in Bavaria. And I still have a good friend that I met at the school. We sat at the back of the class and took the Mickey out of the world, as 16 year-olds do. And actually, just last month, I drove down to Bavaria to see him and the family, which is a great experience. He’s been a good friend throughout my life. I can no longer speak fluent German but fortunately he’s – he's a good doctor and he speaks very good English.
Having got my degree I still had no – no idea whatsoever as to what I should do. I got a phone call asking me if I was prepared to work as a coach guide in Switzerland. I flew out there, arrived at the hotel, and the hotelier came to me and said – the bus leaves in fifteen minutes. I said no I don’t want the bus, I'm going to walk and just have a look around. And he repeated and said – no the bus leaves in fifteen minutes. And I said what do you mean the bus, I want to walk. You know there’s forty people, it’s the Lucerne City Sightseeing – and you’re it. And so I had a chat with the driver, and said make out that we’re having just a friendly conversation, because I was banking on nobody in the front seats of the bus speaking German, I said, and just tell me what the other guys say – the other guys say on the way round. But if you think on your feet and don’t get phased by people, and I had the confidence there that I knew just that little bit more than the people I was talking to.
Oh I've had several high points. First high point was guiding that bus to Lucerne. And others getting – getting jobs and getting promotions, and – but the highest point has been finding this – this niche that I have at the moment. I never had a plan as to what I wanted to do. What I wanted to do with my life, what I wanted to do with my career. I just knew I was looking for the right career, I was looking for – I suppose looking for happiness, and looking for something that I could be good at. And this is what I know I've found with working as an IFA. I've built up my philosophy over my career, or various careers, that life is full of problems, but there are no problems that don’t have a solution.
ENDS
Ian Vincent is an Independent Financial Advisor for Valiant. He says "I never had a plan as to what I wanted to do. What I wanted to do with my life, what I wanted to do with my career. I just knew I was looking for the right career, I was looking for - I suppose looking for happiness, and looking for something that I could be good at."
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