In 2013, Thomas completed a Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning and became a financial adviser. The next step was completing a Master of Financial Planning.

Today, Thomas runs a thriving wealth advisory firm with her business partner, Candice Bourke. The firm, CFT Advisory Group, operates within Shaw and Partners, a leading investment and wealth management business with more than $28 billion of assets under advice.

In addition to providing financial advice, Thomas co-hosts and co-owns the Equity Mates podcast, Talk Money to Me; is co-founder of Her Financial Network; and an Advisory Board member of The Blue Wren Foundation, a charity that addresses family and relationship conflict.

Thomas wants more people to seek financial advice. “I’ve seen the benefits when someone gets advice and sets everything up properly at the start. I’ve also seen what happens when people neglect their finances.  Sadly, some people end up in a financial mess in retirement. It takes a huge toll on their mental health and relationships.”

Thomas’ view on financial advice is timely. As people live longer, the need for financial advice and retirement planning has never been greater. But only one in 10 Australians used financial advice in 2021, according to a 2022 study by Adviser Ratings. [1]  

Another 29 percent of unadvised Australians (5.6 million) wanted to seek help from a financial adviser, the Adviser Ratings study found. But perceptions about the cost of advice, industry standards and a shrinking adviser workforce were barriers.

Thomas says the biggest barrier to getting financial advice is a misconception that you must be wealthy. “Our clients range from people in their twenties who have $20,000 to invest, to ultra-high-net-worth individuals with over $100 million in assets. The key is to start early and find an adviser who can help you build long-term wealth.”

As part of its Diary of a Market Participant Series, ASX Investor Update asked Thomas about her work as a financial adviser:

ASX Investor Update: Felicity, how does your day start?

Felicity Thomas: I always take my puppy (Loki, a black Cavoodle) for a walk by the water in Balmain each morning and get my much-needed coffee. By 8am, I’m in Shaw’s office in Chifley Tower and preparing for our 8.30am morning meeting. Here, we discuss what happened overnight in the US, what could happen today in Australian equites, and investment ideas that are looking good. We might also hear from a company or fund manager who presents at the meeting.

I’m a morning person, so I like to have all my Initial Advice Meetings with prospective clients early in the day. This an obligation-free meeting that has no cost. During this meeting, my goal is to understand an individual or a couple’s financial needs now and into the future. In my experience, a lot of people don’t know what they want in retirement or how to get there. My job is to help.

When someone becomes a client, we do a huge amount of work on understanding the full gamut of their finances. This ranges from household cashflow, to insurance policies, superannuation, investments, tax and other investments. Our team puts together a detailed statement of the client’s financial position, to see the full picture. 

We then come back to the client with a Statement of Advice, where we outline our recommendations to help them achieve their needs and goals. Our recommendations could cover portfolio asset allocations and financial products, to complex strategies surrounding Self-Managed Superannuation Funds, to setting up a family trust. We might have recommendations on insurance policies, loans or other issues. 

When the client accepts our recommendations, we implement the strategy for them and provide a quarterly statement on their portfolio and an annual face-to-face review. Along the way, clients might call us if they have any questions about their finances, no matter how big or small, or want to buy or sell shares.

Overall, my day is a mix of meeting new clients, doing all the research to develop a Statement of Advice, and looking after existing clients. Every day is busy and every day is different. It isn’t your typical 9-5 role. 

ASX Investor Update: What’s the biggest problem you see when people seek advice?

Felicity Thomas: Lack of planning with their finances. When we sit down with clients and help them plan, people realise investing is more straightforward than they think.

Superannuation is an example. We tell clients who want an annual tax-free income of $100,000 in retirement that they will need approximately $1.7 million in super. Then, we help our clients develop a plan to get there. We look at how much they have in super now, whether they are in the best fund for them, how much they are contributing to super and whether they can or should make additional contributions.

It's the same with saving for a child’s education. We look at how much that will cost, and work backwards to understand how much the client will need to invest to cover private school fees. Typically, we recommend education investment bonds that have tax advantages when investing for a child’s schooling.  

A lot of people also have large lumpy assets, such as their main residence, and don’t know how to unlock that equity to create a passive income.

It reduces a lot of stress when people know what’s ahead with their finances, have a clear plan to get there and an adviser who can help for many years.

ASX Investor Update: Why don’t enough people get financial advice?

Felicity Thomas: Some people think advisers might sell them whichever financial product generates the most commission, and not act in their client’s best interest. That was true of some advisers years ago, but a lot of new regulation has lifted standards in financial advice. Advisers have to do a lot of upfront and ongoing education, pass exams, and do Continuing Professional Development to ensure they are up-to-date with changes. Advisers who couldn’t meet those standards have left the industry.

Cost is another issue. Some people think financial advice is expensive. You have to be willing to pay for advice because it requires a lot of time and expertise to do well, and there is a lot of compliance and regulation around it. But good financial advice pays for itself many times over in the long run and helps people achieve their goals and enjoy their retirement. In some ways, I think financial advice has as much impact on someone’s life as the advice they get from their doctor, accountant or lawyer.

ASX Investor Update: What makes a good client/adviser relationship?

Felicity Thomas: Trust. A good adviser builds that trust over many years by listening to the clients, understanding their needs and providing appropriate advice. Everything is about building long-term relationships and recognising the positive impact that a financial adviser can have on their client’s health, family and relationships.

Taking a holistic view toward financial advice is also important. It’s not just about wealth accumulation. For example, we consider when an older client might need assisted living or to move into a retirement village. Or we might help a younger client with a property decision or to set up their personal insurances.  

From the client’s perspective, trust is about being as open with their adviser as possible. The more we understand the client’s financial picture – and their goals – the better. 

It’s so important to make the most of that Initial Advice Meeting. A good adviser can really help you in that meeting, even though they may not charge for that time. Even if we don’t take someone on as client, we might send them our budgeting tool to help them or provide other general comments that benefit their investing.

ASX Investor Update: How challenging is it advising clients during volatile markets?

Felicity Thomas: It’s so beneficial for people to turn to their adviser when markets are volatile, rather than make decisions on their own when they are worried. It can be very unsettling for people, particularly retirees, when the market falls. The risk is that people make rash decisions and crystallise losses at the bottom. Again, it comes back to having a clear investment plan, the right asset allocation and a long-term focus. Markets inevitably recover. 

ASX Investor Update: What do you like most about your job?

Felicity Thomas: I like the breadth of it. In addition to helping retail clients, Candice and I do a lot of work with sophisticated professional and wholesale clients who use our EFG private wealth capabilities. We also provide advice to not-for-profit (NFP) organisations. We are passionate about helping NFPs become more financially sustainable, so that they rely less on government grants and donations. We’re starting to do more work in corporate finance and capital raisings. Recently, we’ve organised company presentations for our clients, in areas such as semiconductors. We expect to do more work in the property sector next year. 

Personally, I like researching small-cap and micro-cap companies. I like to find emerging companies with strong growth prospects. 

ASX Investor Update: What’s the number one thing you’ve learnt as an adviser?

Felicity Thomas: The earlier you start investing in the right structure and set up your super and insurances, the better. For example, I set up my personal insurances correctly in my twenties and pay much lower premiums today as a result. 

I understood the value of dollar-cost averaging (investing equal amounts of money at regular intervals, regardless of a security’s price) and how that can build long-term wealth over time. Setting things up correctly with your finances at the start can avoid so much damage later on when it’s too late to change certain things.