INVESTMENTS & PENSIONS

He wanted to be the next David Attenborough but caught the finance bug instead ! We spoke to SimplyBiz member Andrew Withycombe on his 40 years in our industry .

Did you always want to be a Financial Adviser ?

No ! When I left school , I wanted to pursue a career as a wildlife presenter . I wanted to be the next David Attenborough ! I love wildlife , especially birds . Ornithology was my thing .

However , with no help whatsoever from the school ’ s careers officer , no chance of going to university due to the cost along with parental pressure , I applied for the first job I saw advertised in the South Wales Echo . It was an Agent with Royal Liver . I got the job and started collecting life insurance premiums door-to-door from existing policyholders and selling Industrial Branch whole of life products and endowments . I remember during the early months a lot of the policyholders would hide as soon as they saw me walking up their path to avoid paying their premiums ! But when you got to know them , they would mostly enjoy you turning up so you could have a cup of tea and a chat . I did that for about 5 years then worked for Standard Life , Commercial Union ( Aviva ) Friends Provident and Zurich as an IFA Broker Consultant . I worked in this role for over 21 years before becoming an IFA .

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