What was your medical background? What took you into medicine? Why orthopaedic surgery?
I worked as a doctor for eight years mostly in surgery. Four years of that was just orthopaedic surgery. Generally it was about stimulation, interacting with people plus a few other reasons. In some ways it's like this industry - you get to interact with many different people, although in the wealth management industry issues are more diverse. My father was a doctor, but I think the reasons I chose to do medicine were all good although I was obviously influenced by my father. When I was first choosing what kind of surgery I was going to do in Sydney, I spent time at all the big teaching hospitals. I did a lot of different types of surgery - general surgery, neurology, cardiothoracic surgery and plastic surgery.
With the plastic surgery it was generally reconstructive, so I had to do things like reattached fingers. The more complicated surgery is repairing the defects in people, such as preparing scars and moving pieces of skin from one place to another. As you start out you try different things and experience different types of medicine and as you move down the path of training you get to focus more on one area. My decision was orthopaedics as it is one of the bigger types of surgery in contrast to something such as plastic surgery where you can get to operate on something the size of a postage stamp for hours under a microscope.
Orthopaedic surgery is all about operating on big bones with hammers and chisels and all that and I quite enjoyed it as I learnt my trade. You also get very satisfying outcomes so people come in with a broken bone or an arthritic hip and they can't walk and you fix them up and sometime later they walk out of the hospital. It can sometimes be physically hard because you are in their literally hammering away, but for some people it is actually part of the attraction of carrying out this kind of surgery. It's also working with hands on a big scale.
After the eight years of surgery what brought about the change?
As you focus in a particular area, in my case orthopaedics, your area of focus becomes narrower and you become more specialised. So rather than just becoming an orthopaedic surgeon you just become the hip surgeon or a new surgeon or a full surgeon. Once you have developed a certain level of competence to say you become the world's best foot surgeon it can actually become a bit repetitive in terms of the day-to-day work.
The prospect of doing this the next 30 years was daunting. I was thinking about it for quite a while and talking to friends and relatives about it, in particular those in the business world who had gone off to a business school to do MBAs and they had already made that transition from various fields and they recommended to change. I did the MBA at AGSM in Sydney in 1997/98 and enjoyed it. I did the full-time course for two years getting back into education once again, although it was tough. I was surprised at how much I threw myself into the study thinking it would be fairly leisurely, but it can become fairly consuming. I was lucky to have an understanding wife.
Why the funds management industry?
Previously I did a summer job in management consulting with McKinsey's and we liked each other and at the end of that summer they offered me a full-time job when I finished the MBA. Mostly I was working within the finance sector - investment banking, stockbroking and wealth management - and found it very interesting. I work across a range of different issues, mostly strategic although some were organisational. That gave me a great exposure.
Wealth management though is the one that gripped me and in Australia it is particularly healthy with superannuation and the regulatory environment. It's big, it is growing and it's dynamic, as well as being one of the most developed in the world. So while I was looking to move on from McKinsey's, wealth management was an obvious avenue. My title is head of product and strategy for personal investments, which is really the retail managed funds business for ING Australia.
What are your goals and in what way are you looking to develop the business?
I manage the platforms and stand-alone products and my business is about growing and improving those. The most immediate opportunities are the new superannuation legislation which are the biggest changes we've seen in a decade.
In terms of the Australian market, what do you see as the biggest trend?
I think there is a big opportunity with advice. The penetration of financial planners still has a long way to go in terms of the general population, even at a basic education level for the general populace. Simple things, such as mums and dads getting advice on cash flow [are big trends]. In terms of the regulatory environment, superannuation is more attractive than it has ever been but there is still room in terms of disclosure and the volume of documentation that is provided for a statement of advice and even as a product provider we need to look at product disclosure statements.
Do you ever regret leaving medicine?
No. I'm fascinated and the chance to help Australians with their retirement needs is a noble purpose and it's something I get a lot of satisfaction out of. This is a growing and healthy industry and an opportunity for Australians.
