A former IT distribution leader is on a mission to improve financial planning in the IT sales industry after recent health struggles exposed his own personal finance blind spots.
Shubham Goel heads up Goel Wealth Management, a specialist financial planning business dedicated to supporting IT business sales reps working at MSPs, resellers and distributors.
It is an approved representative of wealth management giant St James’s Place.
An alumnus of PCR’s 30 Under 30 list, Goel spent three years at software delivery platform QBS Software before co-founding software distributor BSR Software in 2018.
“I was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago, and that got me exploring my personal finances,” Goel told IT Channel Oxygen.
“I discovered St James’s Place. They offered me the chance to become qualified and open a business under their firm so I could help clients avoid the mistakes I made.
“I was so focused on my career that I hadn’t really thought about my pension contributions or my retirement planning.
“When I was diagnosed, I couldn’t get life insurance or income protection. But more than that, because I hadn’t been contributing towards a pension or investment goals, I didn’t have much to show for the hard work I’d put in.”
“Sole driver and purpose”
The IT channel will be Goel Wealth Management’s “sole driver and purpose”, Goel said.
“Often, IT sales reps’ pay isn’t predictable or guaranteed, and then when they do get a lump sum, they often aren’t using that to smooth out the rough times or put the right protection in place,” he explained.
Goel spent six years helping to build London-based BSR, which he said was a key supplier to the likes of Softcat, Insight, Bytes and XMA.
This handed him a “360-degree picture of the inner workings of the channel”.
“We’re looking to lean heavily into the IT channel, and I think that sets us apart,” Goel said.
“Some people in the IT channel may have financial advisors reach out to them, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find one who’s lived and breathed the channel and who has owned a business in the channel.”
“We avoid what some financial advisors do”
Goel Wealth Management has two ideal customer profiles in the shape of channel sales professionals who are “earning good money but have not real financial strategy”, and business owners.
“A lot of them aren’t being taxed efficiently or set up smartly,” Goel said of the latter.
The company is also heavily focused on goal-based planning, he added.
“We avoid what some financial advisors do, where they’ll sit down and start talking about the types of investments to look at,” he said.
“That’s like a pilot doing a flight plan without knowing the destination. We sit down with people to really figure out their goals and ambitions, and then create a plan from there.”
Goel added: “We do a thorough fact find and really get to know our clients. I really want to have a personal relationship with them as most will be with me as they get to retirement and even past that.
“We put as many touchpoints in the journey as possible so that it becomes second nature for them to pick up the phone and talk to me.”
“I’m doing everything I can to help people avoid the mistakes I made”
Goel – who turned 30 last year – is looking to bust the myth that wealth management is only for the super-rich.
“Anybody earning good money could benefit from financial advice, and it’s a sad story that our industry has gate kept it for so many decades and made it very elitist – when that’s not the case,” he said.
“Trust is everything when it comes to wealth management. I’m trying to show people I understand where they’re coming from.”
St James’s Place is the largest wealth manager in the UK with more than a million clients and over £200bn of funds under management, Goel stressed.
“Being the best and the biggest in the UK, they have a lot of expertise and heritage,” he said. “A salesperson may look back after ten years and think, ‘I worked really hard and did a lot of late hours to close the deals, but I have nothing to show for it’.
“I’m doing everything I can to help people avoid the mistakes I made.”
This article was produced in association with Goel Wealth Management and is classified as partner content. What is partner content? See more here.
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
