In episode three of the myprosperity @home series, Chris Ridd sits down with Mark Malone of Birling Wealth Management to talk about how Mark’s coping managing his advice business from home with a particular focus on how market foresight and client preparation around this has helped Mark successfully navigate his clients through the fallout of COVID-19.

 

Before the realities of COVID-19 had impacted the Australian economy, Mark had felt that the economic landscape was open to another market shock and had been managing his clients’ finances with a conservative approach. The majority of his clients are retirees and had seen the impact from the 2008 GFC. With this hindsight in mind, Mark explains that his clients “really see the merit in taking that conservative approach, as do we.” and that “the GFC did us a favour because it’s really prepared my clients for this event.”.

 

 

The hindsight of the GFC worked in their favour, as Mark and his staff were able to safeguard their clients from experiencing any major loss during this time. His clients have been well prepared for these economic conditions, as well as the digital shift we’ve all had to take on as we now work our remotely from home. For some time now Mark has been actively digitising the way he runs his business, implementing digital workflows such as document signing, screen sharing and teleconferencing to make his business more efficient. This preparation has seen Birling Wealth Management go 100% paperless and be more than prepared for the transition to work remotely, from home.

 

Healthy preparation doesn’t just stop at Mark’s clients’ finances. When asked what tips Mark would give an advice business during this time he urges everyone to get into pilates, as it’s an easy, mobile form of exercise that anyone can do in the office or at home.

 

You can watch the episode in full below.