I left St James's Place for an IFA and Instantly Regretted it!

I left St James's Place for an IFA and Instantly Regretted it!

From Financial Planner Life Podcast by Sam Oakes

May 7, 2026 · 46 min

About this episode

Alwyn Van Staden shares his journey from investment management to financial advice and discusses the challenges of transitioning to an employed adviser role at St. James's Place.

Should technical professionals go freelance immediately or start as employed advisers? Alwyn Van Staden's journey offers a fresh perspective on entering financial planning from a technical background. In this episode of Financial Planner Life, we chat to Alwyn about his strategic career path from investment management to financial advice. Despite having deep technical knowledge and years of experience at major firms, Alwyn made a choice to join St. James's Place as an employed adviser instead...

People in this episode

Host: Sam Oakes

Guest: Alwyn Van Staden

Topics covered

  • financial planning
  • career transition
  • technical professionals
  • freelancing
  • investment management

Keywords

  • financial planning
  • career path
  • technical background
  • freelance
  • employed adviser

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: St. James's Place, Financial Planner Life, investment management

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