Interview: David Montgomery, wealth manager
There was a bit of understandable edginess in David Montgomery’s voice as he spoke about a personal emergency confronting him. He was due to fly out to Florida the following week for a family holiday but had just heard that the US authorities were raising questions that might prevent them being allowed into the country.
Ultimately, he was able to resolve the issue, but the potential cancellation of a family vacation was a reminder of the disruption being caused by the pandemic. Ironically, the constant travel involved in his previous job in Colorado had been something Montgomery did not miss when he chose to relocate to Scotland after four years working and living in the States.
He had been posted to Denver by Aegon subsidiary Transamerica and built a base for his family to indulge in the outdoor life and enjoy the experience of living in a foreign country. However, there was always a likelihood of coming back to his native Scotland, and when M&G came calling he decided it was time to return to take up a new challenge.
“I had always wanted to experience the States and Colorado is a fantastic place,” he says. “It was a difficult decision to leave. The children had developed American accents and loved the lifestyle.
“But I spent a lot of time on planes and that part was not difficult to leave behind. We also have family in Scotland that we did not get to see.”
M&G had courted him for some time and, returning home, he became one of the key architects of M&G Wealth as the newly-installed managing director. He was excited to be part of creating something new, though he admits he was put through a rigorous appointment process.
“It was not a cookie cutter role and they made me jump through some difficult hoops before I got the job,.” he says.
Once in post he set about building the business rapidly, partly via a series of acquisitions, partly via new platforms, as it develops a foothold in a key growth market.
“We have come a long way in the 18 months since we set it up,” he says. “In terms of identifying the capabilities of a wealth business – some we already had and some we have acquired or partnered with if we could not build it ourselves.”
He says the strategy to grow the division focused on whether it was quicker to build or buy. “It is whether buying gives us the capability that is better than what we can build ourselves,” he says. “In many cases other firms have developed the experience that we can learn from.”
‘There are people who are seeking advice but cannot get it, because it’s not easily available, or it is too expensive’
Ascentric, an investment platform, was acquired from Royal London in September 2020. providing custodian capability for advisers so they can manage people’s money through SIPPs, ISAs and other products. Sandringham Financial Partners has also been added to the portfolio, while the firm embraced the existing Prudential Financial Planning operation.
The company also has its own investments capability and appointed Shanti Kelemen as chief investment officer at the end of last year to make investment solutions available for customers, either on its platform or on other platforms.
A key theme for Montgomery is the development of the advisory side of the business, responding to the various ways that consumers now access information, and in particular to plug what he describes as an “advice gap” in the market.
“There are people who are seeking advice but cannot get it, either because it’s not easily available, or the right sort of advice, or it is too expensive,” he says.
That led to the launch of an Academy whose role is to build the quality of advice but also to meet a shortfall in the number of advisers coming into the profession.
“We need to make it easier for advisers to work with providers, so they become more efficient,” he says. He insists that face to face advice remains important, but technology – including robo-advice – is being developed that adds to the mix and which advisers need to be on top of.
“We think there is a need for more advisers and they need to be properly equipped,” he says. “We have seen a diverse group coming into the Academy and we have encouraged that.”
Among those who have gone through the training programme are a former pilot and a butcher. There have been two cohorts of about a dozen participants and the frequency of the programme will be stepped up to three or four a year.
“I think it is a good and valued profession to be in,” he says, “If you think about the whole wellbeing dynamic and being able to help people with that, then [financial] advice is a key component of dealing with it.”
‘People are getting their advice, if you can call it advice, from TikTok or Instagram. How reliable is that?’
There are essentially three parts to the business: advice – including the academy – the platform and investments, and it is structured to handle newer ways in which consumers handle their finances, no longer relying solely on the man with a briefcase full of brochures.
More people are trying the DIY route and M&G’s partnership with Moneyfarm is geared towards offering guidance and the right tools to help them.
“There is more information out there but sometimes people are getting their advice, if you can call it advice, from TikTok or Instagram”, says Montgomery. “How reliable is that? As an industry we are looking at the information people are getting and whether it is good advice.
“Influencers will talk about products and services. It is for us an industry to decide how much we embrace it or how much we are concerned about it. It comes back to making sure there is a good, solid advice profession that is there when people need it.”
M&G has a significant presence in Scotland and is due to take occupation of newly-built offices in Stirling in addition to those in Edinburgh.
Montogmery credits a “strong” fintech scene, supported by the universities, as a key reason that the company has taken root north of the border.
The new offices will provide the staff with a flexible working option after two years of proving that the hybrid model works.
“We have not seen any disruption.” he says. “We have acquired businesses and integrated them. We have done a lot in 18 months and practically all of it during lockdowns, so it shows what is possible. When people put their minds to it they find ways through. It drives innovation forward and changes the market.
“If you look at our hybrid capability, moving on to digital and video advice, it happened overnight. We just had to do it. We had the tech to do it. It just accelerated some of that. It was an opportunity to embrace some of the things that were going to take place anyway.”
PERSONAL CHECKLIST
Occupation: Managing director, M&G Wealth Management
Birthplace: Paisley, lived in Elderslie, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dunblane, Wetherby, Colorado and now Larbert
Age: 46
Education: University of the West of Scotland
Career highlights: ScottishPower; nPower; Aegon UK; Virgin Money; Transamerica (Denver); M&G Wealth (since Jan 2020)
Out of work interests?
Golf, fitness, watching sports (live even better), Western movies.
Who would you choose to invite to a meeting or dinner party (living or dead)?
Phil Jackson… I’m a big sports fan and he was the coach of the Chicago bulls when Michael Jordan played their and they won everything together. Would love to hear how he managed the egos and built that team. He also used a lot of Zen principles and eastern philosophy and would love to here how that was applied.
Robin Williams… I was a big fan of his programmes growing up, his comedy and then his films. His stories, thinking and energy would have been amazing to have been close to.
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