October 27, 2024 • 16 mins
In the first episode of Finance Friends with Fabian, we dive into the personal and professional journey of Fabian, director of RIVA Recruitment and our podcast host. Joined by co-host Megan, Fabian shares his path from studying finance at La Trobe University to working at prestigious financial firms, both in Australia and abroad. With insightful reflections, he discusses his early career challenges, the lessons he learned managing high-net-worth clients, and his eventual leap into recruitment.
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Episode Transcript
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Fabian (00:06):
Welcome to Finance Friends with Fabian, where we
give our listeners anopportunity to be a part of our
conversation with financialservices industry leaders.
Hear their stories, thechallenges they've overcome and
the invaluable advice they havefor anyone interested in the
financial world.
Keep up to date with us byfollowing Finance Friends
Podcast on Instagram and TikTok.
(00:27):
So welcome to Riva Recruitmentor Careers with Riva.
Riva Careers.
We don't know what it's goingto be called just yet, but,
megan, what are your thoughts?
What should we call thispodcast?
Megan (00:38):
I feel like we could come up with something a little bit
more catchy A little bit morecatchy.
Maybe we should ask thelisteners for some ideas.
Fabian (00:49):
Yeah, any ideas?
Listen, I think I think by thetime we finally get, we repost
this we will have a name forthis podcast.
Oh well, fingers crossed thatwe can remember it this time
yeah, I think maybe career readywith reva we could go with that
, but let's work on it anyway.
Let's move on.
Let's move on.
So, megan, tell me a little bitabout yourself.
Who are you?
Megan (01:06):
Tell me about you first what.
Fabian (01:08):
Can't reverse the question.
Megan (01:10):
First podcast is about you.
Fabian (01:12):
Okay, a little bit about me.
Where do you want me to start?
Megan (01:16):
Start with just a brief overview of yourself, but
include some interesting facts.
Fabian (01:20):
What do you do?
Megan (01:21):
outside of work.
Fabian (01:22):
Let's start with outside of work.
Bit of a tragic on the golfcourse Shocking dad jokes.
I'm not a dad, which isconcerning what else I do, like
going fishing.
I go fishing with the old manquite a bit.
It's our bonding time.
Oh, do you Bonding time?
Megan (01:41):
yeah, I don't think I knew that what kind of fishing.
Fabian (01:44):
I've caught, like lots of fish, you know, I've caught
the big fish, the small fish,the fish that got away.
Megan (01:49):
So are you a big fish or a small fish?
Fabian (01:51):
Big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond
Depends how you look at it.
But no, so good, quiterewarding and hang out with
family.
I've got lots of nieces and anephew Are you the cool uncle or
the strict uncle?
With my brother.
(02:13):
It's not hard to be the cooluncle.
Don't tell him that I won'tsend him the link to the podcast
.
Megan (02:17):
Yeah, no, trying to hang out with the folks.
Fabian (02:18):
Love to travel.
Obviously who doesn't?
How can you not love to travelBeen to a?
Obviously who doesn't?
How can you not love to travelBeen to a few countries Off to
the US soon?
And yeah, that's me All right.
Megan (02:30):
Well, what about more professionally?
Fabian (02:31):
Professionally, it's obviously director of REVA
recruitment, so I'll start fromthe start.
Megan (02:36):
Yeah, what did you study?
Fabian (02:37):
What I studied?
I studied finance, so I'vealways been a bit of a nerd when
it comes to numbers, like youknow.
Give me an equation any day ofthe week, give me times tables
just give me something to dowith numbers, and I love working
it out.
I love it obviously not on mydating profile, but anyway,
let's move on from that.
Because women don't like nerds,well, maybe some of them do.
Anyway, let's continue tellthem.
(02:59):
They're the only 10 you seebecause you're from t, I like it
.
Yeah, very clever, very clever,anyway.
So I studied finance atuniversity, went to La Trobe,
loved university life.
Well, I loved hanging out,meeting people.
I was at La Trobe Universityout in Bundurah in Melbourne.
(03:23):
I'm from Melbourne, grew up inMelbourne near Essendon, went to
university and I found that Iwould very, very easily my arm
was twisted to miss a universitylecture or a class to either go
to Eagle Bar and have a drinkor to be in Agora and have a
coffee and meet someone.
I love getting to know people.
That's who I am, that's what Istand for building relationships
(03:46):
and getting to know people and,as a result, my university
grades weren't great.
But that's okay.
That's okay.
Megan (03:54):
We got here in the end.
You eventually graduated.
Fabian (03:55):
Yeah, sorry, you eventually graduated I
eventually graduated with aletter from La Trobe saying we
think you should exit financebecause maybe you're not up to
scratch.
So anyway, I wrote, returned tosender and posted it back.
But anyway I ended up finishingmy finance degree, which was
great.
I had fun did that and thenstarted working in a financial
planning firm.
So firm out in Essendon.
(04:18):
Big shout out to StefanD'Alessandro, a good friend of
mine, who I used to work with,taught me everything I knew in
my first couple of years ofworking professionally, which is
great.
We won the practice of the yearwith our dealer group that we
were licensed through which wasamazing, and how long were you
there?
It's a great question.
I was probably there close tothree years, so a decent stint
(04:40):
for someone that was 22 to 25,because you know most people
most people out of 22 want tochange jobs after six months.
well, at least I did anyway.
But I was continuallychallenged and learned lots and
worked with a great bunch ofpeople, which is hard to leave
and it was really hard leavinganyway.
So then I joined a, a um, whatthey call an ifa independent
(05:00):
financial advice firm, and I wasresponsible for managing their
investment portfolio.
So we looked after high networth clients, we ran direct
equities, we ran hybridsecurities, we used different
fund managers and that was great.
Got to meet some amazing people.
We had some really high networth clients that were worth
you know, 20, 30, 40 mil backthen.
And then we had some everydaymum and dad type of investors,
(05:23):
as we call them.
I don't know if you agree withthe wording everyday mum and dad
, but you know subtly earthpeople, which was great and got
to know them and learnt a lotabout investment markets and
talking to clients aroundinvestments.
Megan (05:35):
Okay, and so you were there for how long?
Fabian (05:37):
That's about a year and a half A long time ago now.
So what happened was the reasonwhy I was only there a short
period of time.
So the guy that I replaced aguy called alex grucho, who's
become a really good friend ofmine again another legend um he
uh.
He was leaving to go to london,to do work in london, have a
sabbatical in london, and I justthought I'm taking his job,
(06:00):
this is what I should be doing,this is is what I love to do.
So anyway, I was working thereand after about six months, I'm
like that's it.
I'm making a decision, I'mmoving to London, I'm getting my
youth mobility visa for twoyears and then I am flying off
to London and I'm going to dowhat Alex has done Anyway.
So it was really hard the lastsix months.
Megan (06:20):
Who did it better?
Fabian (06:22):
Well, depending on who you ask.
Depending on who you ask,because we pretty much had the
same job.
Megan (06:26):
I thought Alex was a legend.
Fabian (06:27):
Well, he's a legend, but clearly I'm more of a legend,
Anyway.
No, let's move on.
I'm definitely not, Anyway.
So I worked there and then Ilet them know that I'm going to
move to London.
I resigned, moved to London andthen I caught up with Alex and
I had a couple of other friendsthat worked in banking over
there, and they gave me sometips.
I ended up getting a jobworking for a Swiss bank called
(06:48):
Julius Baer in their privatebanking division, which was an
incredible experience.
I learned so much in a shortperiod of time.
I was there for almost twoyears.
Megan (06:57):
What was your biggest learn while you were there?
Fabian (07:00):
Probably learn a lot about investment markets dealing
with international clients.
So we had clients that werebased in the Middle East.
So we looked after billionaireclients out of the Middle East
and what relationship they werelooking for was very different
to someone that worked as a proptrader at an investment bank
that was from the UK.
So theirs was strictly therelationship with the people in
(07:24):
the Middle East.
We had to investShariah-compliant funds, which I
won't go into too much detailabout that.
We'd set up trusts all aroundthe world.
You know wonderful places likethe Marshall Islands and we
hired buyer's advocates to buyproperty in Cayman.
Megan (07:41):
Islands, so you were vacationing while you were
working.
Fabian (07:44):
Something like that, something like that Anyway, and
that was a great experience andloved it and I met so many
amazing people.
But what I realized?
That when I was there my bossused to take the piss out of me
a little bit and say, where'sFabian?
He's never at his desk.
So because I used to lovegetting to know people and I'd
go to the trading desk and talkto the traders, I'd go the desk
that looked after you knowclients that were based out of
(08:06):
South Africa and I'd get to knowthem.
I looked after the you knowwould get to know the people at
the Israeli desk and you knowall the risk and compliance and
HR.
And I just became I just lovedgetting to know people Anyway.
So and then in the end Ithought, well, I love to get to
know people, so maybe I need towork in a sales role.
So anyway, I ended up, longstory short, my colleague next
(08:30):
to me, another great guy.
Obviously you hang around greatpeople, but this guy did
exceptionally well and Isupported him and I was working
Saturday morning some days We'dbe at the office till 11 o'clock
onboarding clients and then hegot his bonus because he got
paid a percentage of the revenuehe generated and I helped him
obviously onboard those clientsand assisted with reports and
(08:53):
meeting clients et cetera.
But I was on a discretionarybonus.
Now I was an associate, Iunderstand that, and he got a
bonus that was enough to buyalmost a house in Melbourne.
It was his bonus.
And then I got my bonus andobviously I was probably doing
the wrong thing by benchmarkingagainst his bonus, but my bonus
was only I say only, which isstill a good bonus at the time
(09:16):
was 7,500 pounds, which is15,000 Australian dollars.
Megan (09:19):
So you had the mindset, as a lot of candidates come to
us with, a success is apromotion and compensation.
Fabian (09:27):
Yeah, that's right.
And because you're benchmarkingagainst, you know you're
comparing apples with pears,yeah, and you shouldn't do that.
So, and you know, I know thatthe guy that I worked with, he
was in my position, you know,sort of six or seven years ago.
So I didn't really understandthat, but I didn't have a mentor
or someone that I could lean onand ask the question.
So I I sort of I wouldn't sayspat the dummy, but not far off
(09:49):
spat the dummy.
I was pretty upset anyway.
So I ended up resigning and I'mlike you know what I want a job
where I can control the incomeI earn.
So I ended up traveling alittle bit through um, through
through Europe.
I actually volunteered on achildren's summer camp in
Croatia for three months, whichis a great experience and I
highly recommend people do it,and then I came back to
Australia.
Megan (10:10):
Okay, and so what did you do when you returned to
Australia?
Fabian (10:13):
Well, I was thinking funds management, sales dealing
with advice Well, that was theplan.
But the problem was that Ididn't have a network of people
to sell to, because when you'rein sales you obviously need your
network.
And then the other thing is Ididn't really understand the
sales process because I've neverworked in any form of sales
(10:34):
role.
So I have the option of goinginto a sales support role.
But I just realized I don'twant to be at the desk for two
hours, two days, two years, likeI don't want to be supporting
someone for two years.
I can't do that.
I want to get out there.
Megan (10:48):
I want to meet people right, keep your bum to the seat
for that long, that's right.
Fabian (10:52):
I find it really hard to sit in a chair for an hour, um,
especially when talking to myparents.
No, that's a joke.
That's a joke.
We've got a great relationshipwith the folks and my mum's a
great cook, so it's not hard tokeep me at the dinner table for
more than an hour anyway, solet's move on.
Megan (11:06):
So what happened was um, I'm just thinking what your
mom's going to really think ofyou after listening to that I
might have to cut a spotifysubscription anyway.
Fabian (11:19):
Um, so so what happened was um anyway.
So then I realized that, um,and then I met with a recruiter
and, uh, that recruiter said,well, why don't you work in
recruitment?
You can build your network,build a sales process and, you
know, get paid well in themeanwhile and, be you know, you
have a clear you know, based onthe revenue you write, you get
paid a certain percentage ofthat revenue, right, certain
(11:39):
commission structure.
And I thought, well, this is agreat idea.
Like I love people, I lovefinance.
So I spoke to a few people thatI know in the industry.
I said what are your thoughts?
Do you think you know me?
You know the industry?
Is this something that I shoulddo?
Anyway, long story short,everyone said, yeah, I think
that'd be great, but I'm not thetype of person that you know
what the my previous boss saidto me do it for two years, build
(11:59):
your network and then move intoa funds management sales role.
I'm not the type of person thatsays, oh, I'm going to do
something, just so I can sort oftransition.
I'm like, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to give it a crack
and I want to be successful.
I was going to say I need to besuccessful.
Megan (12:12):
So you gave it a crack.
Fabian (12:14):
So I gave it a crack and I loved it working a great team
, great people.
But there were a few things alittle bit different in that
organization that I wanted to doon my own and I guess you know
I guess we talk about REVA andwhat REVA stands for and I had a
vision right as to what Iwanted to create for a business.
Megan (12:31):
Wait, so maybe let's backtrack.
You came up with the idea ofstarting your own business.
Fabian (12:35):
Yeah.
Megan (12:36):
And then you established obviously the name.
Yeah, can we share what thename actually, the meaning
behind the name?
Fabian (12:47):
Yeah, that's a great point.
So I you know as a, as a, youknow values is who you are right
, live by your values to die byby those is my mindset and and I
wrote down like what importantvalues for me.
So I had respect, integrity,vision, accountability.
Megan (12:59):
Okay, so that's where so all right, that's where it came
from so, um, so anyway.
Fabian (13:06):
And then I started and I said, well, this is what I want
to create, this is what Ireally enjoy doing.
This is what I probably don'tenjoy doing in my current firm
or the way it is.
So this is what I'm going toset up and this is what I've
created.
So that was four and a halfyears ago and I started in Feb
2020, which is right when COVIDhit, which was not ideal Made.
And here we are today.
(13:31):
We've got a great team, we'vegot great clients.
Obviously, we specialize infinancial services.
That might expand over time,but at the moment, we cover
investment management, we coverprivate wealth, we cover
financial planning, we doanalyst roles.
So we cover a lot and obviously, so now we're starting this
podcast.
Yeah.
Megan (13:52):
What can our listeners expect from the podcast?
Fabian (13:55):
What can they expect?
So I think the thing is for me.
I didn't grow up in an affluentfamily.
My parents didn't finish highschool, both migrants.
My dad had to really work hardto get the family to where it is
today.
So what it was for me?
I never had that mentor.
I never had a mentor.
I never had someone to help mewith my maths homework, someone
to help me with writing myEnglish exam, my essay.
(14:15):
So I had to really, you know,build resilience and just say,
you know, this is where I wantto get to and this is how I'm
going to get there.
But if I had a mentor, I hadsomeone to listen to or learn
from and understand whatopportunities are out there,
that would have been reallyimportant for me.
So what I want to create is Iwant to interview leaders in
their field.
So, whether it be someonethat's a portfolio manager,
(14:36):
someone that's, you know, worksas a, you know head of sales for
an investment firm, or someonethat's a mortgage broker,
someone that's an investmentbanker, and get a story for them
.
How did they get to where theyare today?
You know, what skills do theyhave?
What did they learn?
What setbacks did they have to?
Megan (14:52):
battle through, it's still about supporting others
for their own success.
Fabian (14:54):
That's right.
So share the ideas, share theirsuccess, so then the listeners
can actually learn and hear andhave a mentor without actually
sitting down.
Megan (15:04):
Use these skills of how they can apply in their own
lives.
Fabian (15:07):
That's exactly right and I think that's really important
.
So that's what I want to create.
So, watch this space, getengaged, listen to us on
whatever streaming podcast youlisten to.
We're gonna be.
On spotify, we're gonna be, youknow, apple music, is that
right?
Something like that.
I don't know, I'm not an appleuser, but anyway, don't hate me
for being a samsung user, asmost people do anyway.
(15:28):
So, um, you know, follow us onour tiktok, follow us on our
instagram, follow us on ourlinkedin.
You know we're we're.
We're about sharing the love,we're about sharing experiences,
we're about sharing knowledge.
We want to, you know, give backto the people that we've, you
know our network.
That's right and it's making animpact and exactly what you said
.
So maybe career with an impact,oh, maybe that could be our
(15:51):
name.
Megan (15:53):
That is.
I'll remember that one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll take avote.
Fabian (15:57):
We'll see Sienna's saying I'm not sure about that,
but anyway, let's move on.
But thank you for listening.
Megan, Thanks for theintroduction.
What about you?
Just a quick one.
We're about to finish upbecause you're going to be.
Oh, we'll have to tell thelisteners to stay.
(16:17):
Okay, well, let's keep it there.
But thank you for listening into our first podcast.
We're looking forward tointroducing you to leaders in
financial services and givingyou the opportunity to learn
from them.
Thank you.
Disclaimer this podcast existsfor informational and
entertainment purposes only.
The personal opinions of thespeaker and guests do not
(16:38):
represent the view of any otherparty.
If this recording containsreference to financial products,
that reference does notconstitute advice or
recommendations and may not berelied upon.
Welcome to Finance Friends with Fabian, where we
give our listeners anopportunity to be a part of our
conversation with financialservices industry leaders.
Hear their stories, thechallenges they've overcome and
the invaluable advice they havefor anyone interested in the
financial world.
Keep up to date with us byfollowing Finance Friends
Podcast on Instagram and TikTok.
(00:27):
So welcome to Riva Recruitmentor Careers with Riva.
Riva Careers.
We don't know what it's goingto be called just yet, but,
megan, what are your thoughts?
What should we call thispodcast?
Megan (00:38):
I feel like we could come up with something a little bit
more catchy A little bit morecatchy.
Maybe we should ask thelisteners for some ideas.
Fabian (00:49):
Yeah, any ideas?
Listen, I think I think by thetime we finally get, we repost
this we will have a name forthis podcast.
Oh well, fingers crossed thatwe can remember it this time
yeah, I think maybe career readywith reva we could go with that
, but let's work on it anyway.
Let's move on.
Let's move on.
So, megan, tell me a little bitabout yourself.
Who are you?
Megan (01:06):
Tell me about you first what.
Fabian (01:08):
Can't reverse the question.
Megan (01:10):
First podcast is about you.
Fabian (01:12):
Okay, a little bit about me.
Where do you want me to start?
Megan (01:16):
Start with just a brief overview of yourself, but
include some interesting facts.
Fabian (01:20):
What do you do?
Megan (01:21):
outside of work.
Fabian (01:22):
Let's start with outside of work.
Bit of a tragic on the golfcourse Shocking dad jokes.
I'm not a dad, which isconcerning what else I do, like
going fishing.
I go fishing with the old manquite a bit.
It's our bonding time.
Oh, do you Bonding time?
Megan (01:41):
yeah, I don't think I knew that what kind of fishing.
Fabian (01:44):
I've caught, like lots of fish, you know, I've caught
the big fish, the small fish,the fish that got away.
Megan (01:49):
So are you a big fish or a small fish?
Fabian (01:51):
Big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond
Depends how you look at it.
But no, so good, quiterewarding and hang out with
family.
I've got lots of nieces and anephew Are you the cool uncle or
the strict uncle?
With my brother.
(02:13):
It's not hard to be the cooluncle.
Don't tell him that I won'tsend him the link to the podcast
.
Megan (02:17):
Yeah, no, trying to hang out with the folks.
Fabian (02:18):
Love to travel.
Obviously who doesn't?
How can you not love to travelBeen to a?
Obviously who doesn't?
How can you not love to travelBeen to a few countries Off to
the US soon?
And yeah, that's me All right.
Megan (02:30):
Well, what about more professionally?
Fabian (02:31):
Professionally, it's obviously director of REVA
recruitment, so I'll start fromthe start.
Megan (02:36):
Yeah, what did you study?
Fabian (02:37):
What I studied?
I studied finance, so I'vealways been a bit of a nerd when
it comes to numbers, like youknow.
Give me an equation any day ofthe week, give me times tables
just give me something to dowith numbers, and I love working
it out.
I love it obviously not on mydating profile, but anyway,
let's move on from that.
Because women don't like nerds,well, maybe some of them do.
Anyway, let's continue tellthem.
(02:59):
They're the only 10 you seebecause you're from t, I like it
.
Yeah, very clever, very clever,anyway.
So I studied finance atuniversity, went to La Trobe,
loved university life.
Well, I loved hanging out,meeting people.
I was at La Trobe Universityout in Bundurah in Melbourne.
(03:23):
I'm from Melbourne, grew up inMelbourne near Essendon, went to
university and I found that Iwould very, very easily my arm
was twisted to miss a universitylecture or a class to either go
to Eagle Bar and have a drinkor to be in Agora and have a
coffee and meet someone.
I love getting to know people.
That's who I am, that's what Istand for building relationships
(03:46):
and getting to know people and,as a result, my university
grades weren't great.
But that's okay.
That's okay.
Megan (03:54):
We got here in the end.
You eventually graduated.
Fabian (03:55):
Yeah, sorry, you eventually graduated I
eventually graduated with aletter from La Trobe saying we
think you should exit financebecause maybe you're not up to
scratch.
So anyway, I wrote, returned tosender and posted it back.
But anyway I ended up finishingmy finance degree, which was
great.
I had fun did that and thenstarted working in a financial
planning firm.
So firm out in Essendon.
(04:18):
Big shout out to StefanD'Alessandro, a good friend of
mine, who I used to work with,taught me everything I knew in
my first couple of years ofworking professionally, which is
great.
We won the practice of the yearwith our dealer group that we
were licensed through which wasamazing, and how long were you
there?
It's a great question.
I was probably there close tothree years, so a decent stint
(04:40):
for someone that was 22 to 25,because you know most people
most people out of 22 want tochange jobs after six months.
well, at least I did anyway.
But I was continuallychallenged and learned lots and
worked with a great bunch ofpeople, which is hard to leave
and it was really hard leavinganyway.
So then I joined a, a um, whatthey call an ifa independent
(05:00):
financial advice firm, and I wasresponsible for managing their
investment portfolio.
So we looked after high networth clients, we ran direct
equities, we ran hybridsecurities, we used different
fund managers and that was great.
Got to meet some amazing people.
We had some really high networth clients that were worth
you know, 20, 30, 40 mil backthen.
And then we had some everydaymum and dad type of investors,
(05:23):
as we call them.
I don't know if you agree withthe wording everyday mum and dad
, but you know subtly earthpeople, which was great and got
to know them and learnt a lotabout investment markets and
talking to clients aroundinvestments.
Megan (05:35):
Okay, and so you were there for how long?
Fabian (05:37):
That's about a year and a half A long time ago now.
So what happened was the reasonwhy I was only there a short
period of time.
So the guy that I replaced aguy called alex grucho, who's
become a really good friend ofmine again another legend um he
uh.
He was leaving to go to london,to do work in london, have a
sabbatical in london, and I justthought I'm taking his job,
(06:00):
this is what I should be doing,this is is what I love to do.
So anyway, I was working thereand after about six months, I'm
like that's it.
I'm making a decision, I'mmoving to London, I'm getting my
youth mobility visa for twoyears and then I am flying off
to London and I'm going to dowhat Alex has done Anyway.
So it was really hard the lastsix months.
Megan (06:20):
Who did it better?
Fabian (06:22):
Well, depending on who you ask.
Depending on who you ask,because we pretty much had the
same job.
Megan (06:26):
I thought Alex was a legend.
Fabian (06:27):
Well, he's a legend, but clearly I'm more of a legend,
Anyway.
No, let's move on.
I'm definitely not, Anyway.
So I worked there and then Ilet them know that I'm going to
move to London.
I resigned, moved to London andthen I caught up with Alex and
I had a couple of other friendsthat worked in banking over
there, and they gave me sometips.
I ended up getting a jobworking for a Swiss bank called
(06:48):
Julius Baer in their privatebanking division, which was an
incredible experience.
I learned so much in a shortperiod of time.
I was there for almost twoyears.
Megan (06:57):
What was your biggest learn while you were there?
Fabian (07:00):
Probably learn a lot about investment markets dealing
with international clients.
So we had clients that werebased in the Middle East.
So we looked after billionaireclients out of the Middle East
and what relationship they werelooking for was very different
to someone that worked as a proptrader at an investment bank
that was from the UK.
So theirs was strictly therelationship with the people in
(07:24):
the Middle East.
We had to investShariah-compliant funds, which I
won't go into too much detailabout that.
We'd set up trusts all aroundthe world.
You know wonderful places likethe Marshall Islands and we
hired buyer's advocates to buyproperty in Cayman.
Megan (07:41):
Islands, so you were vacationing while you were
working.
Fabian (07:44):
Something like that, something like that Anyway, and
that was a great experience andloved it and I met so many
amazing people.
But what I realized?
That when I was there my bossused to take the piss out of me
a little bit and say, where'sFabian?
He's never at his desk.
So because I used to lovegetting to know people and I'd
go to the trading desk and talkto the traders, I'd go the desk
that looked after you knowclients that were based out of
(08:06):
South Africa and I'd get to knowthem.
I looked after the you knowwould get to know the people at
the Israeli desk and you knowall the risk and compliance and
HR.
And I just became I just lovedgetting to know people Anyway.
So and then in the end Ithought, well, I love to get to
know people, so maybe I need towork in a sales role.
So anyway, I ended up, longstory short, my colleague next
(08:30):
to me, another great guy.
Obviously you hang around greatpeople, but this guy did
exceptionally well and Isupported him and I was working
Saturday morning some days We'dbe at the office till 11 o'clock
onboarding clients and then hegot his bonus because he got
paid a percentage of the revenuehe generated and I helped him
obviously onboard those clientsand assisted with reports and
(08:53):
meeting clients et cetera.
But I was on a discretionarybonus.
Now I was an associate, Iunderstand that, and he got a
bonus that was enough to buyalmost a house in Melbourne.
It was his bonus.
And then I got my bonus andobviously I was probably doing
the wrong thing by benchmarkingagainst his bonus, but my bonus
was only I say only, which isstill a good bonus at the time
(09:16):
was 7,500 pounds, which is15,000 Australian dollars.
Megan (09:19):
So you had the mindset, as a lot of candidates come to
us with, a success is apromotion and compensation.
Fabian (09:27):
Yeah, that's right.
And because you're benchmarkingagainst, you know you're
comparing apples with pears,yeah, and you shouldn't do that.
So, and you know, I know thatthe guy that I worked with, he
was in my position, you know,sort of six or seven years ago.
So I didn't really understandthat, but I didn't have a mentor
or someone that I could lean onand ask the question.
So I I sort of I wouldn't sayspat the dummy, but not far off
(09:49):
spat the dummy.
I was pretty upset anyway.
So I ended up resigning and I'mlike you know what I want a job
where I can control the incomeI earn.
So I ended up traveling alittle bit through um, through
through Europe.
I actually volunteered on achildren's summer camp in
Croatia for three months, whichis a great experience and I
highly recommend people do it,and then I came back to
Australia.
Megan (10:10):
Okay, and so what did you do when you returned to
Australia?
Fabian (10:13):
Well, I was thinking funds management, sales dealing
with advice Well, that was theplan.
But the problem was that Ididn't have a network of people
to sell to, because when you'rein sales you obviously need your
network.
And then the other thing is Ididn't really understand the
sales process because I've neverworked in any form of sales
(10:34):
role.
So I have the option of goinginto a sales support role.
But I just realized I don'twant to be at the desk for two
hours, two days, two years, likeI don't want to be supporting
someone for two years.
I can't do that.
I want to get out there.
Megan (10:48):
I want to meet people right, keep your bum to the seat
for that long, that's right.
Fabian (10:52):
I find it really hard to sit in a chair for an hour, um,
especially when talking to myparents.
No, that's a joke.
That's a joke.
We've got a great relationshipwith the folks and my mum's a
great cook, so it's not hard tokeep me at the dinner table for
more than an hour anyway, solet's move on.
Megan (11:06):
So what happened was um, I'm just thinking what your
mom's going to really think ofyou after listening to that I
might have to cut a spotifysubscription anyway.
Fabian (11:19):
Um, so so what happened was um anyway.
So then I realized that, um,and then I met with a recruiter
and, uh, that recruiter said,well, why don't you work in
recruitment?
You can build your network,build a sales process and, you
know, get paid well in themeanwhile and, be you know, you
have a clear you know, based onthe revenue you write, you get
paid a certain percentage ofthat revenue, right, certain
(11:39):
commission structure.
And I thought, well, this is agreat idea.
Like I love people, I lovefinance.
So I spoke to a few people thatI know in the industry.
I said what are your thoughts?
Do you think you know me?
You know the industry?
Is this something that I shoulddo?
Anyway, long story short,everyone said, yeah, I think
that'd be great, but I'm not thetype of person that you know
what the my previous boss saidto me do it for two years, build
(11:59):
your network and then move intoa funds management sales role.
I'm not the type of person thatsays, oh, I'm going to do
something, just so I can sort oftransition.
I'm like, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to give it a crack
and I want to be successful.
I was going to say I need to besuccessful.
Megan (12:12):
So you gave it a crack.
Fabian (12:14):
So I gave it a crack and I loved it working a great team
, great people.
But there were a few things alittle bit different in that
organization that I wanted to doon my own and I guess you know
I guess we talk about REVA andwhat REVA stands for and I had a
vision right as to what Iwanted to create for a business.
Megan (12:31):
Wait, so maybe let's backtrack.
You came up with the idea ofstarting your own business.
Fabian (12:35):
Yeah.
Megan (12:36):
And then you established obviously the name.
Yeah, can we share what thename actually, the meaning
behind the name?
Fabian (12:47):
Yeah, that's a great point.
So I you know as a, as a, youknow values is who you are right
, live by your values to die byby those is my mindset and and I
wrote down like what importantvalues for me.
So I had respect, integrity,vision, accountability.
Megan (12:59):
Okay, so that's where so all right, that's where it came
from so, um, so anyway.
Fabian (13:06):
And then I started and I said, well, this is what I want
to create, this is what Ireally enjoy doing.
This is what I probably don'tenjoy doing in my current firm
or the way it is.
So this is what I'm going toset up and this is what I've
created.
So that was four and a halfyears ago and I started in Feb
2020, which is right when COVIDhit, which was not ideal Made.
And here we are today.
(13:31):
We've got a great team, we'vegot great clients.
Obviously, we specialize infinancial services.
That might expand over time,but at the moment, we cover
investment management, we coverprivate wealth, we cover
financial planning, we doanalyst roles.
So we cover a lot and obviously, so now we're starting this
podcast.
Yeah.
Megan (13:52):
What can our listeners expect from the podcast?
Fabian (13:55):
What can they expect?
So I think the thing is for me.
I didn't grow up in an affluentfamily.
My parents didn't finish highschool, both migrants.
My dad had to really work hardto get the family to where it is
today.
So what it was for me?
I never had that mentor.
I never had a mentor.
I never had someone to help mewith my maths homework, someone
to help me with writing myEnglish exam, my essay.
(14:15):
So I had to really, you know,build resilience and just say,
you know, this is where I wantto get to and this is how I'm
going to get there.
But if I had a mentor, I hadsomeone to listen to or learn
from and understand whatopportunities are out there,
that would have been reallyimportant for me.
So what I want to create is Iwant to interview leaders in
their field.
So, whether it be someonethat's a portfolio manager,
(14:36):
someone that's, you know, worksas a, you know head of sales for
an investment firm, or someonethat's a mortgage broker,
someone that's an investmentbanker, and get a story for them
.
How did they get to where theyare today?
You know, what skills do theyhave?
What did they learn?
What setbacks did they have to?
Megan (14:52):
battle through, it's still about supporting others
for their own success.
Fabian (14:54):
That's right.
So share the ideas, share theirsuccess, so then the listeners
can actually learn and hear andhave a mentor without actually
sitting down.
Megan (15:04):
Use these skills of how they can apply in their own
lives.
Fabian (15:07):
That's exactly right and I think that's really important
.
So that's what I want to create.
So, watch this space, getengaged, listen to us on
whatever streaming podcast youlisten to.
We're gonna be.
On spotify, we're gonna be, youknow, apple music, is that
right?
Something like that.
I don't know, I'm not an appleuser, but anyway, don't hate me
for being a samsung user, asmost people do anyway.
(15:28):
So, um, you know, follow us onour tiktok, follow us on our
instagram, follow us on ourlinkedin.
You know we're we're.
We're about sharing the love,we're about sharing experiences,
we're about sharing knowledge.
We want to, you know, give backto the people that we've, you
know our network.
That's right and it's making animpact and exactly what you said
.
So maybe career with an impact,oh, maybe that could be our
(15:51):
name.
Megan (15:53):
That is.
I'll remember that one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll take avote.
Fabian (15:57):
We'll see Sienna's saying I'm not sure about that,
but anyway, let's move on.
But thank you for listening.
Megan, Thanks for theintroduction.
What about you?
Just a quick one.
We're about to finish upbecause you're going to be.
Oh, we'll have to tell thelisteners to stay.
(16:17):
Okay, well, let's keep it there.
But thank you for listening into our first podcast.
We're looking forward tointroducing you to leaders in
financial services and givingyou the opportunity to learn
from them.
Thank you.
Disclaimer this podcast existsfor informational and
entertainment purposes only.
The personal opinions of thespeaker and guests do not
(16:38):
represent the view of any otherparty.
If this recording containsreference to financial products,
that reference does notconstitute advice or
recommendations and may not berelied upon.
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