A recent event hosted for finance professionals gave me the opportunity to meet Bella Caridade-Ferreira, the founder of Comparetheplatform. After hearing about my journey from semi-professional and collegiate athlete to apprentice financial adviser at 24 years old, she offered me the chance to write a regular column to be published on Comparetheplatform. My regular blogs will chart my financial services training and journey, as well as my thinking on how to connect with younger investors and the investment solutions that might suit them.
So who am I?
My name is Alex Gager. Until a year ago I was living my childhood dream of playing basketball in the USA with an athletic scholarship, picking up achievements along the way such as playing semi-professionally in Iceland and representing the under-15 England National Team, where we won Gold in the Copenhagen International Tournament.
During my second year living in the USA, a teammate and I started talking about something I’d not considered before – financial freedom. At that point, I hadn’t even saved any money. But over the next three years, I dove deep into learning about investing, how the economy works, and how wealthy people think about money.
My research of global economies and financial markets gave me the impression it could be confusing for outsiders. Abbreviations and industry jargon distracts investor from the main point – markets go up in the long term. My goal was simple – to be financially literate in how I presented financial strategies so anyone can feel in control of their money.
Why should you listen to anything I write?
The average financial adviser in the UK is between 55 and 58 years old. Experience can be useful, but it also builds biases – some good, but some will naturally become dated over time. As a 24 year old that has lived in three countries and been exposed to their economies were shifting and why, my age could be an advantage when exploring solutions for clients. I’m not tied to this “is the way it’s always been done,” which allows me to think more creatively, embrace new tools, and connect with a wider range of clients, especially younger ones. I’m entering the profession with a fresh set of eyes, and this blog offers me a place to express the conclusions I devise over time.
I see this as an opportunity to help shape the future of financial advice.
I hope you enjoy my posts.
Photo by Marius Christensen on Unsplash
