In the first instalment of our Next Generation series, Professional Planner asks Jordan Kennedy the questions that matter: why he decided on a career in financial advice and to outline his path from cadet accountant to self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) specialist.
Jordan Kennedy will be 30 in July and recently moved from Grant Thornton to take up a senior manager role at Pitcher Partners, providing a range of family office services. Like many in the new generation of financial planners and accountants, his short career has been characterised by ongoing education and quickly finding a niche specialty.
Kennedy began his career as a cadet accountant with a chartered accounting firm over 11 years ago, working with high net-worth clients in an affairs management/bookkeeping environment, where the majority of his clients were professional investors.
“A significant amount of my time was spent accounting for investment portfolios and liaising with the clients’ various providers. With this as my foundation, I began to question what value the clients’ providers were actually adding to the clients’ positions,” he said.
Through this experience Kennedy (right) saw the opportunity for holistic accounting and financial advice through a family office model.
“At Pitcher Partners, we specialise in advising CEOs, CFOs, board members, corporate executives, retired executives as well as high net-worth individuals and families,” he said.
“The services we provide to these clients include SMSF compliance and advisory, remuneration planning, capital gains tax planning, wealth and investment management, estate planning, structuring, tax planning, provider management, family governance and meetings, succession planning, bookkeeping and investment management.”
However, it is the superannuation sector which most interests Kennedy and SMSFs are central to his philosophy.
“My passion for superannuation, and specifically SMSFs, comes from a basic philosophy of matching the clients’ objectives with an environment that has the maximum flexibility and the greatest long-term benefits. Perpetual planning within superannuation is imperative,” he said.
“As we have seen, and will continue to see in future years, the wealth held within the superannuation environment is increasing. With this increase in assets within superannuation, and ultimately the SMSF environment, having the skills to be able to advise in this area is one of the most important matters in the client’s eyes.”
Kennedy says superannuation comes up in the initial discussion that he has with most clients and he has a novel way of explaining its importance.
“Throughout our working lives, we strive to impress our employers, which hopefully leads to being promoted, which in turn leads to better remuneration. So, if we say that your superannuation will ultimately become your employer, and you are currently in the position to start impressing that employer, well what does that mean?” he asks.
“If you start taking an active interest into your superannuation, it could mean the difference between continuing your remuneration growth as you have done through your employed years, or in the worst case, getting a demotion and having to readjust your lifestyle accordingly.
“When I mention this to clients, I see their realisation of the importance of superannuation. As an adviser, I am able to assist them in shaping their futures.”
Kennedy is also looking after his own future, having completed a Bachelor of Business (Accounting), Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning), Diploma of Finance and Mortgage Broking Management and a SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) specialist adviser accreditation. He is currently in the process of completing the last module of an Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning.
Aside from being a SPAA member, Kennedy says he is in the process of assessing other associations.