Patrick Malcolm: 20 YEARS AT GFM
By Paul Nicol
It only feels like yesterday that a fresh-faced work experience kid attended the GFM offices for the first time approximately 20 years ago in the July school holidays of 2000. That fresh-faced 16-year-old “kid” was Patrick Malcolm. After being asked to return more permanently from December 2001, Patrick now has the very proud distinction of having reached 20 years of employment at GFM, and we could not be any prouder.
From the first moment Patrick started work experience at GFM, we knew we were on a winner. Patrick had a maturity far above his years. Exceeding his maturity was an infectious enthusiasm and drive to succeed. Patrick’s early years at GFM were punctuated by working school holidays, catching public transport from Brunswick to Camberwell, just to soak in as much practical work experience as possible.
Patrick became a full-time staff member in 2003, creating the research and technical department within the GFM team known today as our para-planning department. Then in 2012, after a ten plus years apprenticeship, Patrick became an adviser at GFM. He successfully achieved the highest designation in the Financial Planning industry, becoming a Certified Financial Planner. He also completed studies to become a CPA.
Once becoming a Financial Adviser, Patrick continued with his long list of achievements, most notably becoming a Barron’s Top 100 Adviser and was recently a finalist as the best SMSF Adviser in Australia. Patrick’s finest achievement was the very natural progression to becoming a Partner at GFM, the most senior position possible at GFM.
While I am particularly biased, I genuinely believe Patrick is one of the best Financial Advisers in Australia. His all-around skills are extraordinary. He is incredibly technically gifted, and he can see superior financial outcomes in client situations others do not even contemplate. Patrick also has a very personable approach to the clients he advises, having developed incredibly strong client relationships.
On a personal level, in the 20 years Patrick has been at GFM, we have been blessed to see him reach incredible milestones like buying his first house, getting married to Liesl and having two children, Jakob and Zoe.
The whole team at GFM is genuinely thrilled that Patrick has reached this significant milestone and shared this journey with him. And the best news, he is way too young to retire – he has at least another 30 years at GFM ahead of him!
Patrick: My 20 years at GFM
Like James in the last edition of Trade Secrets, I find it very hard to believe I’ve been at GFM Wealth for 20 years.
I was very fortunate to undertake my work experience at the firm back in July 2000. Paul Nicol, our Managing Partner, was my under 16s cricket coach for those who don’t know. Paul was only 23 at the time as well! He knew I had an interest in finance and offered me the opportunity to undertake work experience with the company.
I undertook my work experience during the school holidays. I still remember the client files that I worked on. The going rate for work experience then was $5 per day. Tony Gilham, the firm’s founder, was generous enough to quadruple the rate and paid me $100 for the five days at the end of the week. I was glad to have received the bonus, but I was more appreciative of undertaking the work experience.
Tony and Paul then invited me back to work over the school holidays, of course, at a higher rate than the $5 per day.
I finished my VCE in 2001, and I was fortunate to obtain a score that gave me the opportunity for tertiary study at the University of Melbourne. I had always intended to study Commerce and Information Systems (it was the early 2000′s, so Information Technology was popular). However, my TER allowed me to change my preferences to undertake Commerce and Law, probably considered the most prestigious combination with Commerce. I stuck to what I had committed to, and thankfully so. The law subjects I had to undertake as part of my Commerce degree were by far my worst subjects at University. Goodness knows how I would’ve managed with three years of law subjects.
After undertaking one Information Systems subject, I also decided that wasn’t for me either. I was keen to spend the five years at University, so I decided to stick to a straight Commerce degree and undertake a Masters of Applied Finance at Melbourne once I had finished, which I did.
While at University, Tony and Paul allowed me to work part-time at the firm. Commerce was a huge course at Melbourne (1,600 students). The course size gave me the flexibility to cram my subjects into a full day and a couple of afternoons so that I could work. Some lecturers still used overhead projectors, and my year was the first year you enrolled in tutorials online! It is hard to believe today, but one lecturer had to run the same session four times a day, twice a week.
Paul and Tony gave me an amazing degree of flexibility with leave for study and exams, which is still very much appreciated today.
In 2003, I flipped things around, and in effect, was working full time and studying part-time. While I enjoyed studying, I was enjoying work more. I started what is known as our paraplanning department, which began with a single employee, me. The department is responsible for the preparation of Statements of Advice for clients. As the team grew with the firm, I was also responsible for managing workflow and the ongoing training and development of the team.
I was very fortunate to spend a lot of time one on one with Tony in these years. Tony could see that I was keen to learn, and he was just as eager to teach me.
In 2012 Paul and Tony offered me the opportunity to become a shareholder and partner of the firm. This is by far my most satisfying professional achievement. This was before I had committed to becoming a financial planner, so the leap of faith on their part was a significant one.
In late 2012, Paul coerced me into starting my journey as a financial planner. I was not convinced, but he probably saw something in me that I did not see in myself at the time. I always imagined my role in the business as being behind the scenes. I am eternally grateful that Paul pushed (shoved?) me along that path, as there has not been one day since that I have regretted that decision.
A lot has happened in my personal life over the last twenty years. My wife, Liesl, has been with me for the very vast majority of that time. She has been an incredible support for me. Full-time work and part-time study was a big commitment, ultimately at the compromise of relationship, but she always supported me in full along the journey. I have taken on several additional courses in addition to my studies at the University of Melbourne. She thinks I’m insane and a bit weird, given my desire to continue studying.
Over the 20 years, Liesl and I have purchased our first home together, got engaged and married, travelled through Europe four times (her favourite country is France, mine is Spain), started a family, sold our first home to buy a family home and are now embarking on a renovation together.
She is an incredible wife and amazing mother to our two children, no more so than during the tricky COVID environment over 2020 and 2021.
Jakob was born in 2014, and Zoe in 2016. There is nothing I enjoy more than spending time together as a family. This used to involve trips to the Zoo, the Aquarium, parks, the Grand Prix for Jakob at a very young age (he had an obsession with the film Cars) and holidays at the beach. As they have grown, this has changed to going to the footy (Jakob, Zoe and I are long-suffering Carlton fans), the Big Bash cricket, Bounce (a trampoline centre), basketball and we were lucky to have a family holiday to Hong Kong in 2019 pre-COVID.
Away from family time, I am most passionate about the game of golf. I’m a member of the Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club. There, I have been on the Finance Committee for six and a half years and the Board for five years. I’ve also been the Treasurer since March 2020.
I love the industry and my job, but most of all, I love the firm. I hope my enthusiasm comes through in my dealings with my clients, as there is nothing else I would rather do day in, day out. I am passionate about quality financial planning advice. I am pleased with the significant raising of the bar concerning educational and professional standards of the industry, as it had been set way too low for too long.
I am very proud of our firm and that we can freely act in the best interests of our clients, conducting these relationships without being told what to do by another institution. Our clients know that we are not tied to the influences or products or a third party, and we can build the advice and strategies that are right for our clients in a practical, timely, personal and proactive manner. We have a loyal, hard-working, knowledgeable and caring team that I am honoured to work with daily.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my first 20 years with the firm and look forward to many more years ahead!