FISHER DUGMORE FINANCIAL
FISHER DUGMORE FINANCIAL
Guiding Financial
Growth PRODUCTION: Karl Pietersen
Fisher Dugmore is the financial advisory and planning business that can help you create a plan to grow your wealth. Formed through the merger of Andrew Dugmore & Associates and DFB Financial Advisory Services, Fisher Dugmore has become one of the most trusted, reliable and productive businesses in the industry. Co-founder, Dave Fisher talks to Enterprise Africa about the success of the company and how it consistently delivers for its clients. 2 / www.enterprise-africa.net
www.enterprise-africa.net / 3
INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE
//
“There is a difference between earning money and keeping money,” says leading Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Dave Fisher. The book he is currently writing, based on his quarter century in South Africa’s financial industry, will hopefully teach people how to keep more of that money and improve what he calls their “financial context”. Fisher together with Andrew Dugmore is Co-founder and Director of Fisher Dugmore Financial, a boutique financial planning and advisory firm with two offices in Gauteng, in Centurion and Silver Lakes. “I’ve done a lot of thinking, reading, research and courses about what motivates people. I found that everyone has what I term a ‘financial context’. That is the way you think,
feel and behave with money, which determines your level of wealth. “Your academic intelligence will enable you to take a certain career path, but how well you work with that money and how much you end up keeping is determined by your financial context – it’s like a money muscle. I am passionate about helping people understand that, and I want them to realise what they can do to make a difference.” While only a very small percentage of South Africa’s employed population employ a
financial advisor, Fisher is confident that the approach of his business, as well as a general improvement in the economic climate, will help the industry to thrive in the future. The key, he says, is clarity. “I have a unique way of preparing a strategy for a client. I know it works as existing and new clients will speak to each other and refer people because they clearly understand the process. I feel the need to share that model with people. I have always been very interested in why certain people
// WE DELIVER ON A FAR MORE PERSONAL LEVEL. BANKS CAN OFFER INVESTMENT AND INSURANCE ETC FOR CLIENTS, BUT THEY DON’T DO IT ON A PERSONAL LEVEL LIKE WE DO //
Andrew Dugmore and Dave Fisher
4 / www.enterprise-africa.net
FISHER DUGMORE FINANCIAL
// WE WERE RUNNING TWO IDENTICAL BUSINESSES BUT UNDER SEPARATE BRANDS // work well with money and why certain people do not – it’s key to understand this so we can tailor a solution.” A common saying in business – ‘the purpose of a business is to create a customer who creates customers’ is very true in the financial advisory space, and Fisher Dugmore has managed to achieve this. A HISTORIC MERGE Before and during Fisher’s journey as an author, he has always been recognised as an industry-leading financial planner and this is largely due to the successes he has realised as part of Fisher Dugmore. The story of the birth, growth and establishment of this business goes back three decades and is rooted in insurance. “Andrew Dugmore and I started our careers in the life insurance space with Sanlam. He started around five years before I did. He resigned to become an independent insurance broker (almost swear words today) in 1988 and I did the same in 1992,” explains Fisher. “We started our individual businesses and didn’t know each other at all. We were both small, working individually with only a PA each. In 1993, we met on a trip to Cape Town for a mutual provider. We got on well and would meet periodically for coffee before talking about the synergies that existed between our businesses. Eventually, in 2002/03, our conversations got to the point where we amalgamated our short-term insurance businesses to form Fisher Dugmore & Associates.” At this point, Dave Fisher and Andrew Dugmore were still running their practices independently and started to toy with the idea of a more complete merge.
“We were running two virtually identical businesses but under separate brands,” says Fisher. “Eventually, we put together a buy and sell agreement so if anything happened to either of us, the one who was left would buy the others business to ensure continuity. That led us to, in 2016, talking about rebranding and we were advised to use the power of our brand, promoting one unified brand, and that is where the Fisher Dugmore Financial brand was officially born. From there, we relaunched the corporate identity of the company as the Fisher Dugmore Group, with four companies involved, namely is Fisher
Dugmore Financial Centurion (my old practice), Fisher Dugmore Financial Silver Lakes (Andrew’s old practice), Fisher Dugmore & Associates (the company we formed together in 1993 for short-term insurance), and Fisher Dugmore Securities (for physical share trading for clients).” The new brand - which is embodied by the nautilus shell, a symbol of growth and perfect proportion – offers a complete financial package for clients and has brought significant strength to the company. “We’ve experienced growth of between 15-20% per annum since we started,” says Fisher. Today, Fisher Dugmore is a holistic financial planning business and is no longer just about insurance. The highly qualified team deliver personal service, the likes of
Today your children love you for who you are. Tomorrow, they will love you for who they are. A good education is essential for your children to maximise their potential. With Discovery Life’s Global Education Protector, you can make sure they get the best. Should something happen to you, your children’s education from crèche through to the end of tertiary education is covered at some of the best institutions both locally and abroad. Better still, if you don’t claim and lead a healthy lifestyle through our Vitality programme, their tertiary education could cost you nothing. Your children deserve all the rewards life has to offer.
SPEAK TO YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISER TODAY Discovery Life Limited. Registration number 1966/003901/06, is a registered long-term insurer, and an authorised financial services and registered credit provider, NCR Reg. No. NCRCP3555. Product rules, terms and conditions apply. Subject to limits determined by Discovery Life.
www.enterprise-africa.net / 5
INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE
// WE’VE EXPERIENCED GROWTH OF BETWEEN 15-20% PER ANNUM SINCE WE STARTED // which simply cannot be offered by corporate-sized organisations. “We see ourselves as a boutique family-type business where we provide holistic financial planning for clients including estate planning, wills, investments, retirement, medical aid etc – we believe in holistic financial planning for our clients. “We deliver on a far more personal level. Banks can offer
6 / www.enterprise-africa.net
investment and insurance etc for clients, but they don’t do it on a personal level like we do. Our speciality is building very close relationships with our clients and providing one-on-one trust-based relationships where we do everything for them. They see us as their go-to place for everything financial and investment,” details Fisher. LIGHTING THE WAY In the future, Fisher Dugmore will explore ways to improve efficiencies and streamline internal and external operations. Of course, new technology will help to move the business forward. “Andrew and I spend a lot of time looking at the best tools to
manage our businesses and that means we are always expanding the tool set we have for clients, workflow, and practice management. We are constantly tweaking and constantly investing into our own inhouse compliance software that allows us to work on tablets with clients to eliminate paperwork,” says Fisher. “We always have growth in the back of our minds, but we do not have solid plans for expansion at this point. We do service clients in other parts of the country – Andrew and I both have clients in Cape Town, Durban and other parts of South Africa but we are able to service them all from our current branches in Centurion and Silver Lakes. With technology and the way the industry
FISHER DUGMORE FINANCIAL
// THERE WON’T BE A MASSIVE TURNAROUND OVERNIGHT. I THINK WE WILL GO SIDEWAYS FOR A LONG TIME TO COME. EVERYBODY’S MORE OPTIMISTIC WITH RAMAPHOSA IN CHARGE BUT THERE’S STILL MANY CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME // is going, we are able to service most clients remotely.” Currently, the business describes itself as the ‘masters of wealth navigation’ and Fisher says that, even among big-name competitors, for those looking for financial advisory services, it is difficult to overlook his business. “In our space, there’s a lot of independents as well as the big banks and insurance companies - there are also certain ‘independently flavoured’ financial advisory companies, and
there are a few family office-type businesses that play in the high-net worth individual space but when it comes to the boutique investment space that doesn’t discriminate by the size of the client, we are definitely one of the market leaders.” But going forward, the concern for the business is that only a small group of people are making use of financial advisors, and with the country’s economic outlook not promising a major change for consumer pockets, will the industry
itself be able to grow? “Yes, only a small percentage of people employ financial planners, but it’s that same portion that are the highest earners in the country,” explains Fisher. “Large parts of the employed population are contributing relatively insignificant amounts to tax. There’s a very broad lower-middle class and the uppermiddle class and wealthy is where you see employment of financial planners. As the economy grows, we will build a larger culture of saving
www.enterprise-africa.net / 7
INDUSTRY FOCUS: FINANCE
and build people’s prosperity. When they have more disposable income, people will employ financial advisors but when they are in survival mentality, financial planning is the last thing on their minds.” Clearly, the precursor to more people using financial planners in South Africa is economic growth. And Fisher suggests that the industry could yield in the medium-term. “The forecasts in the short-term are for very low growth but things do look positive in the medium-term,” he says. He describes the economic landscape as “more positive than it was a year ago” but admits significant hurdles remain for South Africa in a turbulent global economy. “There won’t be a massive turnaround overnight. I think we
8 / www.enterprise-africa.net
will go sideways for some time to come. Everybody is more optimistic with Ramaphosa in charge but
there’s still many challenges to overcome. Large changes are needed before we see an impact
FISHER DUGMORE FINANCIAL
on people’s pockets and before we see the sort of growth that we saw during the Mandela era or during the build-up to the World Cup.” But there is always another side to the coin. Fisher Dugmore deals with clients’ investment portfolios and with a weak economy comes a weak currency, which can help those invested in international stocks. “There’s a dichotomy in South Africa between what the economy does and what the markets do. When the Rand depreciates, it’s favourable for the stocks of the globally invested companies. Locally, our client’s businesses may perform badly, while their investments still perform strongly,” details Fisher. Whichever way the economy turns, the people at Fisher Dugmore are more than prepared to
navigate all scenarios. All holders of relevant qualifications, the team is experienced and knowledgeable beyond that of the competition. Hence, unpredictable economic and political situations have not fazed Fisher Dugmore. “It’s been business as usual,” says Fisher. “We continue to grow and continue to generate interest with existing and potential clients. In the wider economy, there are isolated sectors where confidence has improved and where businesses are expanding, but most people are still very cautious of the socio-political landscape and there’s been no large growth in any area.” The next step for the Founders is to ensure the company continues to service clients with the highest-level of quality, as it has since inception,
and for Fisher to finish his book. “I go away for around two or three days at a time, I lock myself in solitude and I write. I am around three quarters through and I hope to finalise by the end of the year.” Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until then to find out how to keep more of the money to earn and learn more about your financial context.
WWW.FISHERDUGMORE.CO.ZA
www.enterprise-africa.net / 9
Published by CMB Media Group Chris Bolderstone – General Manager E. chris@cmb-media.co.uk Sackville Place, 44-48 Magdalen Street, Norwich, NR3 1JU T. +44 (0) 20 8123 7859 E. info@cmb-media.co.uk www.cmb-media.co.uk CMB Media Group does not accept responsibility for omissions or errors. The points of view expressed in articles by attributing writers and/ or in advertisements included in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this magazine, no legal responsibility will be accepted by the publishers for loss arising from use of information published. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrievable system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher. Š CMB Media Group Ltd 2018
AS FEAT UR ED IN
ENTERPRISE AFRICA
AUG UST 2018