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Ian Riggs on securing a financial future

By Ian Riggs

Founder, Eight Wealth Management

The founder of the 100-people strong Eight Wealth Management passionately shares the success of his financial services company through the Eight Foundation, a charitable trust raising funds to help local, small businesses and individuals.

Beginning his journey in the industry working at a bank, after becoming financially stranded on an island in Greece as a teenager, Ian Riggs obtained a wealth of experience in financial planning and established Eight Wealth Management. Today the company is underpinned by his positive approach to both finance and life, a strategy which pays dividends in the future.

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Can you tell us about the significance of the word 'Eight' in Eight Wealth Management?

Eight is our promise to clients: Exceed (their expectations), Inspire (them to take action), Guarantee (our advice), Help (in everything they need) and Trust (our relationship).

I'm a real people person, I want to help, inspire and educate. I do a lot of work training and developing people and bringing new talent to our industry.

How has the world of finance evolved since you started out in banking?

We've seen between 15 and 20 different legislation changes around pensions and some major changes in the retirement world. Every year the government changes something, sometimes it's subtle, sometimes it's major, our job is to understand what impact is on the client and then do something about it.

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"Retirement planning and pensions is one of the biggest things that people don't pay any attention to until it's too late. The next generation isn’t taking advice and they should be, because they're missing tricks"

How do you feel about the financial industry as we embark on a new decade?

I don’t have concerns for our business, for the industry, or for people who take advice. It’s the people who aren’t taking advice who should be worried. Retirement planning and pensions is one of the biggest things that people don’t pay any attention to until it’s too late. The next generation isn’t taking advice and they should be, because they’re missing tricks.

What does success look like to you?

A smile. Our recruitment policy is hire the smile. We don’t recruit people because they’ve got 20 years’ experience, we bring them in because they’re nice, and they’re happy. For me a positive outcome is a happy face.

How important is it to you for your business to have a positive impact?

100% important. I’m not doing it for any other reason than to have a positive impact on people. For my family, my friends, the people who work here, and the foundation and the people who can benefit from that.

What are the biggest challenges in running a business?

As much as I love people, they are the biggest challenge in any business. Keeping them in that happy smiley place is hard sometimes because already in 2020, we’ve experienced the worst day in financial markets for 13 years and my job is to make sure everyone goes home happy.

"This concept enables people to leave the traditional working environment and work on their business without the usual distractions and give them the opportunity to connect with like-minded successful business people."

Liam Doe, Old Bond Store

How would you say you do things differently in comparison to your competitors?

We put the client at the heart of everything we do, I don’t think a lot of businesses in our industry do that.

Equally, we focus a lot on making sure that our people are happy at work. We have a Head of People and Culture to make sure that our people are happy so that our clients feel positive energy. In our industry that’s quite unique.

The Old Bond Store is part of that experience for our team, it’s part of our culture. It’s an opportunity to reward people with fun events, but equally to say if you need some space and you want to work remotely, here is a collaborative, relaxed environment where you can do that.

How do you maintain a balance of calm and perspective while working in what can be a stressful industry?

I think I’m lucky in one sense that my character is energised, enthusiastic and positive. I try to take the time to share and communicate with people during the day. At home, I like cooking, I’ve got a great family, I like playing chess with my seven-year-old daughter. I’m very disciplined about work until I stop and then I won’t work which really helps me psychologically, because I can just switch off.

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