December 15, 2024 • 25 mins
Join us in this weeks episode of Finance Friends with Fabian, as we chat with Stefan D'Alessandro, founder and director of The Risk Lab, about his journey from computer science to risk insurance specialist. Stefan shares his thoughts about building meaningful client relationships, the importance of balancing work with personal passions, and how his approach to business aligns with his values.
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Speaker 1 (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, the challengesthey've overcome and the
invaluable advice they have foranyone interested in the
financial world.
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Podcast on Instagram and TikTok.
(00:27):
Hello listeners.
And today we have StefanD'Alessandro.
How are you going?
I'm well.
How are you?
Very well, mate.
Tell us a little bit about you,stefan.
What do you do?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
for work.
I run a life insurance advicepractice, so I mean you and I
have a very, very long history.
We worked together many, manyyears ago and since you, or
since we parted ways, I was afinancial advisor but now
specialize only in risk, but weoperate a general advice
business.
(01:00):
So it's general advice only,which is a little bit different
to what people in financialservices are used to, but I
think it's got its place.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Fantastic.
So for people that don'tunderstand, what risk when you
refer to risk, what is risk?
What type of insurance are wetalking about?
So we're dealing personalinsurances only.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So life TPD trauma cover, income protection.
So protecting your assets,protecting any liabilities that
you've got, in the event thatsomething bad happens, We've got
a strategy in place for you tobe able to continue on with life
.
I mean, when something badhappens, it may not be
continuing on in life at thesame level it was before, but at
(01:43):
least as a contingency plan inplace.
Yeah, personal insurancegenerally covers yeah, it's the
the well.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
The definition of risk is a chance of something
going wrong, of course, soyou're covering the chance of
something going wrong.
And the one thing that stoodout to me when I started first
working with you many moons agowas when, if someone from your
life insurance company said tome you know what's currently
your biggest asset?
And I thought, well, my car ismy biggest asset.
(02:11):
It was a nice car, wasn't it?
No well, it was probably about$5,000 back then.
It was a nice car for me at thetime.
But the one thing that said, no, what your biggest asset is is
your income, your ability toearn income.
Your ability to earn income,your ability to earn income over
the next 40 years, say so, ifyou have an average income of
(02:31):
$100,000 over 40 years, that's$4 million.
Yeah, Okay, so that's yourbiggest.
Your future income is yourbiggest asset at that point in
my life, and it's crazy that youknow some people young
professionals won't ensure thatearning ability or your future
assets.
So, anyway, let's touch base.
So what do you actually do?
(02:53):
Talk to us about your mechanics.
What is the day-to-day of whatyou do?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Well, I mean, there's a little bit of a difference
between what I used to do in thebusiness and what we do now.
So right now we actually onlydeal in general advice, a
general advice only manner.
So clients have to come to usand direct us in terms of what
they want.
We can educate them and providethem factual information only.
Yeah, but that differs in termsof where it was when I was a
(03:21):
full financial advisor, albeitspecialing in life insurance,
only because we were able toactually put strategies in place
for them and give themrecommendations.
The thing that I found in thisspace of moving into the general
advice space is that we'restill able to empower clients to
make the decisions forthemselves.
I'm a big believer that risk,particularly in the full advice
(03:41):
space, is a lot more complicatedthan it needs to be.
So what we tried to do inpivoting the business model to a
general advice model was putthe decision making back in the
client's hands.
Yeah, give them the factualinformation that they need, um,
but will empower them to work ontheir own levels of cover, the
types of cover that they thinkthat they need, and and then
(04:02):
just facilitate that for them.
So, in terms of the process,yeah, clients will come to us,
we'll give them an idea as towhat the types of cover are,
direct them to some ways thatthey can potentially calculate
their own levels of cover.
There's stuff on you know, theMoney, smart and whatnot that
they can actually use.
And then they come to us andsay you know, can you give us a
(04:24):
market comparison on this, thatand the other?
And we just we act on on theirinstructions.
Basically, yeah, once that oncethey've decided on what they
want, we go away and we canactually put that in place for
them.
Yeah, but, um, yeah, that'sit's.
It's a little bit different tothe full advice model, but I
actually think there's a.
There's a real niche.
The the reason behind that aswell.
(04:44):
The other reason behind doingwhat we did was I was finding,
with the cost to serve under thefull advice model, I was having
to knock back clients who wereyounger yeah, and they tend to
need the cover more like youwouldn't.
You're getting married andyou're starting a family, still
relatively young.
Yeah, cost is obviously a bigissue.
(05:05):
We get paid on commissions butthen charging an advice fee on
that was obviously.
It's not feasible for a lot ofpeople.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So the ability for us to serve those clients by
reducing our cost to serve meansthat I'm actually able to help
more people get cover.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah, and that's the thing that came out of the Royal
Commission was the cost todeliver advice increased, and
now it's arguably the peoplethat need financial advice the
most can't afford it yeah.
I think so, unless, obviouslyyou just mentioned, you can
reduce your cost to servethrough a generalist advice
(05:43):
model or general advice modeland you're able to give advice
to, like you said, youngerprofessionals or younger
families that need assistancewith risk insurance.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, because we can't actually give the advice,
we can still facilitate anoutcome for them.
So, like I've said to a lot ofpeople, it's not for everybody.
There are people who reallyneed the hand held through the
process and we've got the meansto refer them out to a couple of
full advice holistic advicepartners that can help them.
But reducing cost to serve wasobviously a big thing following
(06:19):
the Royal Commission, so it wasjust costing a fortune to
deliver advice.
I'm a big believer in technology, so our process and and our
service delivery is actuallypretty tight as it was, but then
pivoting as well to that gamodel suited us.
It suited my clients too.
So, yeah, I'm actually able tospend more time speaking to them
(06:41):
as, as opposed to doing backoffice stuff and or having to
increase headcount in order tobe able to facilitate that.
I had no headcount sort ofphilosophy when I set the
business up.
I didn't want to hire anyone.
I thought I'll invest intechnology instead, and it's
worked pretty well.
So it's just me in the businessand it works.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
For me it works.
It's not for everybody, but itdoes work.
That's great.
It's the end of the day.
It it's not for everybody, butit does work.
That's great.
It's the end of the day, it'syour business and it's what
works for you.
Yeah, so that's fantastic.
And what does a typical daylook like in the life of Stefan
D'Alessandro at the Risk Lab?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
When I'm not on the golf course, I'm not doing the
work.
So I suppose when I set thebusiness up, I had a really
strong philosophy that I wantedto create some balance for me in
life.
I wanted to be able to createsome time to be able to do
(07:32):
things that are rewarding to meand then, obviously, that would
put me in a mental space thatI'm able to, when it's time to
work, focus.
So a typical day for me wouldnow just involve undertaking
reviews, dealing with businesspartners who refer business to
us and, yeah, I mean I've got apretty good balance.
(07:53):
Admin-wise, things are fairlyautomated now, which is pretty
cool.
And yeah, it's given me a lot offreedom, operating this way, to
do what I want and actually goand meet with potential business
partners who are looking torefer the risk out.
They don't want to particularlydo it, refer clients out that
(08:14):
you know that's not in theirwheelhouse and I operate in a
pretty niche space, so there's alot of things that are in my
wheelhouse as well.
So there's a lot ofopportunities to deal with
potential business partners.
And then the rest of the timeI'm either on the phone or on
Zoom speaking to clients.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Yeah, and that's what I want to do.
And what do you most enjoyabout your job?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Dealing with my clients.
Speaking to people.
Speaking to people, I mean Ilike the whole concept behind
trying to get things done withas little cost to serve means
that I can actually buildrelationships.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Yeah, Spend more time building relationships rather
than on administration, Becausethere is a lot of.
When you are a holistic advisorproviding personal advice, the
documentation that comes withthat is a lot.
Advice the documentation thatcomes with that is a lot.
(09:09):
In some cases, I've heard over100 pages to deliver a statement
of advice, which is a financialplan for a client, which is
what you think is ludicrous.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Oh well, yeah, Look, I don't have an opinion on it.
One way or the other, it's justnot for me.
So I would rather spend timetalking to my clients and
getting to know them and makingsure that they feel a level of
care because I do care aboutthem, as opposed to, yeah,
dealing on more of the backoffice things.
(09:34):
I've set that up in a reallygood way that I think it's
really compliant.
Nothing can slip through thecracks in the way that we've set
things up and now I can focuson them so they get more touch
than they were before.
I'm calling them more often,we're able to market to them
more often, speak to them moreoften, so I think that the
overall service in terms of whatthey see and what they feel is
(09:56):
actually better than I was theway that I was operating before.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Yeah fantastic and maybe it would be good to share
your experience to get to whereyou are today.
Obviously you spoke about,because you've got quite an
interesting background.
We met quite a few years ago.
I think, yeah, I'm trying tothink when.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Maybe 2010?
, I reckon earlier than that, Ithink, we started working
together.
I reckon it was oh eight, yeah,yeah, a long while ago.
A long time ago we were youngbucks.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, we were young bucks and you taught me most of
what I knew in my career, sothank you to that.
But you started because youwere studying.
What were you studying when youfirst finished high school?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
So I did computer science at Swinburne, which is a
far cry from financial services, but worked in a family
business after I finished school.
Family financial servicesbusiness yeah they did financial
planning, mortgage broking.
So I think working in there andthe skill set that I had from
(11:02):
you know, obviously thecomputing background naturally
gravitated towards staying inthe family business and then I
was really lucky in terms ofbeing able to be empowered to
implement some of the you know,the technological solutions that
I'd sort of learnt along theway within that business.
So benefits from both sides.
I was obviously lucky enough toimplement a lot of tech stuff
that I'd sort of learnt alongthe way within that business.
So benefits from both sides.
(11:22):
I was obviously lucky enough toimplement a lot of tech stuff
that I really loved.
I'm really passionate aboutthat.
So I operate another businessin that space.
We've got a digital agency withone of my best mates and we
guinea pig everything on theRisk Lab, which is good, because
if it breaks it's on me, butthe ability to do that in that
business while learning theskills, and then eventually just
(11:44):
I transitioned over to being afinancial planner because it was
just, it made more sense interms of career direction or
whatnot.
Then we met along the way.
I suppose, yeah, we workedtogether for about what?
Five years, I'd say, yeah,close to you, taught me a fair
bit, don't worry.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Close to yeah.
And then from there.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
I mean I'd cultivated a fairly large client base
within that business and thennatural course of progression
for me was I wanted to set upsomething for myself.
Yeah, fantastic, so I broughtthose clients and set them up
under the Risk Lab.
And here we are today.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yep.
So for any listeners that mightbe, you know what might be
considering insurance for themor their family who would be
your ideal client.
Do you have an ideal client?
Or, because your cost to serveis is relatively low, you can on
board and your processes arevery, you know, um, I guess
(12:41):
Streamline Streamline is theright word.
Is there anyone that'slistening who should come and
speak to you?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Well, look, ideal client for me is somebody who is
sort of willing to take oncalculation of their own cover
themselves, so take the reinsand say this is what I think I
want.
In terms of demographic, therereally isn't one.
I prefer to deal with clientswho are sort of young and
growing families, because that'swhen the trigger point, when
you have kids, I think yourmentality shifts.
(13:13):
So, growing up it's like youknow, you and I grew up together
.
I didn't have a family or awife and you kind of feel
invincible.
So I never used to speak to mymates about what I did because,
to be honest with you, I didn'twant to sell or push that onto
them.
Naturally, I think what happensis you start to get married and
(13:33):
have kids and they end upcoming to you going hey, I've
got kids now and I've gotusually a mortgage it's usually
a big one as well and they wantto make sure that they can
protect against, protectthemselves in the event that
something happens.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Protect their families ultimately, yeah, and
it's also about protecting theirfamily.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, I think, particularly as blokes, we kind
of think we'll be right.
Yeah, that Aussie mentality.
Yeah and then you know someonecomes along and then you've got
little ones come along and youthink, well, I'll be right, but
I don't know what will happen ifsomething does happen, so that
you have to kind of look out forthem.
So I mean ideal client, as longas there's somebody who sees a
(14:09):
need to protect themselves orprotect their loved ones, that's
enough for me to be able towork with them.
But if you really want to digdeeper, I suppose those young
and growing families are theones that I'm looking to deal
with, because they've got alonger-term protection strategy
in place as well.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, and what would be the top two or three most
important skills to besuccessful in your role?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Well, I think you need to be able to cultivate
relationships and you need to beable to have a level of
compassion so that peopleunderstand that you actually
give a stuff.
But it's interpersonalrelationships.
That's probably the main skill.
I think there's just a level ofexpectation these days that you
know what you're talking aboutanyway.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
So I don't know, I think that's kind of I wouldn't
say a a level of expectationthese days that you know what
you're talking about anyway.
Yeah, so I don't know, I thinkthat's kind of I wouldn't say a
rite of passage, but it's justan expectation You've got to
know what you're talking about.
But the most important skill iswhether or not you can develop
that relationship on peoplewhere they'll actually trust you
enough to be able to facilitatewhat they want and then trust
you on an ongoing basis to beable to speak to you about it,
(15:21):
and when things change, comeback to you and whatnot.
That would be the single mostimportant skill.
Outside of that, it comesprobably to a little bit of a
technical base, but I thinkagain, I think that's part of
the course.
You've just got to know whatyou're doing if you're going to
be in this industry or thisprofession, yeah, I guess with
any profession you.
You've been doing this now for20 years oh yeah, yes, 19 years,
(15:44):
yeah, a few years, a long time.
It makes me sound like a longtime I know you're not, you're
only 60.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
I feel it sometimes, um, and what's like.
I think setbacks is important,right, because you you're
obviously challenging the statusquo with what you're doing and
you do an exceptional job andcredit to you.
But what setbacks have you hadin your career that come to mind
, and what advice would you giveto anyone that maybe wants to
(16:13):
become a risk specialist?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I'd find it really funny if someone woke up and
said I want to do risk, I wantto be a risk specialist.
I'd find it really funny ifsomeone woke up and said I want
to do risk, I want to be a riskspecialist, because it wasn't my
choice.
I always say nobody wakes up inthe morning and says, hey, I
want to do life insurance advice.
I naturally just gravitatedtowards it because we saw it in
play, working really, reallyearly in my career.
It was in the first six monthsand we were handling a couple of
(16:41):
trauma claims.
So I saw the effect that it hadon the families when we
actually were able to facilitatesomething for them.
That was life-changing.
But yeah, it's a really goodquestion.
In terms of setbacks, though, Ithink I don't think there's
been too many personal setbacks.
(17:01):
I think the setbacks have comefrom circumstance within our
sort of space.
So the Royal Commissionobviously changed a lot of
things.
There's been changes toremuneration.
There's always uncertaintyabout where the space is at
overall and I think that'schanged the mentality.
Like the whole thing about thecost to serve increasing
(17:25):
dramatically was a definitesetback in terms of
strategically where we wereheading in terms of the family
business at the time.
So having to pivot to adifferent model I don't know if
you'd call that a setback, butit definitely had us pivot for a
specific reason.
But outside of that there's nottoo many things that I'd
(17:46):
consider setbacks.
It's just sometimes bad stuffhappens and you've just got to
deal with it and pivot.
So bad stuff happens all thetime in business.
Yeah, exactly right, I thinkthey're learning experiences
rather than setbacks.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I agree, and that's a good mindset to have, and I
always say there's no such thingas a bad day, just an
opportunity to learn.
That's it and I think, the onething that I've been running my
business with recruitment forcoming into five years now.
I just need to get comfortablewith being uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yeah, it's been five years Almost.
Yeah, Well done.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Five years, in January so two months Big party.
Well, I probably party a bittoo much as it is.
I need a rain head in a littlebit.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
I'll wait for my invite though Two months.
All right, I'll put in a diary.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Yeah, two months.
No, maybe we'll just play around of golf.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
That might be a big round.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Yeah, go for a run.
Yeah, go for a run.
You're doing your late 30s,yeah that's 37.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
I'd say he's mid 30s.
Okay, we'll be kind to eachother, that's fine.
Um, what about you?
Tell us a little bit about youpersonally.
We've spoken about age.
You're a big Richmond supporter, yep?
Speaker 2 (18:59):
You want to talk about Richmond now.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
You've waited until 2024 to talk about Richmond.
Well, I only started thepodcast recently.
Who knows?
You've got a lot of draft pickscoming up.
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I haven't been looking forward to the draft for
a long time, but now wedefinitely are.
Yeah, in terms of me, well,you'd know I'm a big sports fan,
so I'll watch any sport, I'llplay just about any sport.
I play soccer, love my PremierLeague, love the Reds.
They're doing quite well at themoment.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
The top of the table at the moment.
Top of the table.
Five points clear.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Exactly, exactly, and the big Arnie Slott is doing
very well.
Yeah, I mean, I love my sport,I love my mates, I love my
family.
I like keeping fit.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
And yeah, I'm having a lot of fun at the moment.
I've got a six and a.
She says a six and a quarter,six and a half-year-old at home.
She's keeping me pretty.
I don't know, some days she'skeeping me, keeping me pretty.
I don't know, someday she'skeeping me young, but other days
she's making me feel really old, yeah, but though again you
talk about the what my day lookslike.
A lot of the way that I've setthe business up was around the
(20:04):
fact that, like we've got onechild, we're only having one
child, and I don't want to missthat.
So a lot of what I do gives methe ability to be really
involved with her life.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
And I love that, Like I don't want to miss anything
She'll have if she's gotassembly at school.
I want to be there.
So pickups, drop-offs, anythingthat I can do to be really
involved and enjoy that journeyI want to, and the business has
given me a lot of opportunity tomake that happen.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
And that's great that you've got that flexibility as
well.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, and it comes down to even going out and
having a round of golf, like wewere talking about pre-podcast.
I want to be able to do thatand take clients out, take
friends out, enjoy life, becauseI think it goes quick,
definitely does.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Definitely does, and you recently ran a marathon.
I did my first marathon, theGold Coast.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Congratulations, I think the party afterwards was
actually my first marathon, theGold Coast Congratulations.
I think the party afterwardswas actually harder than the
race, to be honest, and I'mdoing my next.
We're doing an ultra marathonin February with a couple of my
best mates down at Brimbank andprobably get the Gold Coast done
again next year.
What distance are you doing forthe ultra?
It's 47 or 48.
(21:14):
Is that an?
Speaker 1 (21:14):
organized ultra.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Yeah, it's a backyard ultra, so they do.
You've got to do asix-kilometer loop at Brimbank
within an hour.
Whatever time you do it inwithin the hour, you get the
rest of it at rest.
The rest of that time is resttime and you go again.
So you've got to do seven loopsto get to the 42 and you can do
an eighth to make sure that it's.
(21:36):
It's an ultra.
So it starts at like seven atnight on a friday and it
finishes, I think, in three inthe morning.
And then then there's the guy.
It's a last man standing event,so I'm only doing the limited
one but yeah my big big benson,that yeah yeah, he's six foot
seven, absolute weapon of anathlete and very inspiring to us
.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
So he just did an Ironman on the weekend.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
He did yeah, and he's done this backyard ultra.
He did 123 kilometres before heclocked out.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
So he could work for over 24 hours which is cool, my
gosh.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I don't know how he's bailed me into doing it, but he
has.
I like to have something bookedin from a fitness point of view
so that I can, you know it sortof underpins where I'm at for
training and just keeping fresh.
I feel like if you don't, it'slike a holiday.
If you don't have a holidaybooked in, you've got nothing to
look forward to.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, I think that's really important.
So the fitness thing for meit's like have an event booked
in to train for yeah, and itkeeps me in line, yeah and I
think it's interesting becausewe've now recorded quite a few
podcasts and for very successfulbusiness owners or
professionals, the key theme isand maybe it's just me, because
(22:44):
what's important to me and thepeople I hang around, but you
know fitness is really important.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Do you think it's an age thing?
Do you think it's a shift inthe mentality of where we're at
as a society?
Because fitness was obviouslynot a big thing while I was in
my 20s otherwise I would havebeen playing some soccer.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Yeah, but you obviously were playing soccer.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
So, you played quite a lot.
You still play twice a week.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
We still play futsal twice a week.
I've played futsal since I was12 and I played outdoor for a
few years, but nothing highlevel from an outdoor point of
view.
But I just feel like,particularly the running thing.
I wonder whether it's a lifestage thing or just people in
general are running more.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Maybe you build a little bit more resilience as
you get older, so you knowrunning longer distance.
You don't just tap out after aK, yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
I, so you know, running longer distance you
don't just tap out after a K.
Yeah, I actually took mydaughter for her first park run
on the weekend and I was reallysurprised she got through a
whole kilometre before shestarted to stop and complain.
She did the whole thing, yeah,but that first kilometre I
thought she's either going toget it, that's impressive.
I was very impressed for someonewho doesn't run and she wants
to go back next week, and Ithink maybe it's just a shift in
the mentality in terms ofsociety.
(23:55):
Now People are getting out anddoing more in terms of health
and fitness or there's moreoptions available.
I don't remember there beingpark run when I was six.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
No well, my parents.
I try and get my parents outfor a walk and we go there for
dinner afterwards and mum's likeI can't be bothered.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
We're just a walk.
Yeah, I know Well, it's just awalk.
Yeah, I know Well, we do runclub on a Sunday night with the
boys, which everybody thinks isa bit crazy to run at 8.30 at
night.
But for me that underpins theend of a good weekend and it
sets you up for the start of,hopefully, a good week.
At least you've done somethingpositive to end and start each
(24:30):
week?
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah, agree, no, that's really important.
Well, thank you for coming onpleasure mate.
Finance friends with fabianpleasure, each other for a long
time and classify you as one ofmy good mates yeah, absolutely
so.
Thank you anytime and lookforward to releasing that and
listen to um this podcast, andif you want to get into contact
with stephan, we'll share hisdetails through our podcast and
(24:52):
our socials and I I'll wait forthat invite, that five-year
invite.
Yeah, in a couple of months'time.
Thanks, mate.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Disclaimer this podcast exists for informational
and entertainment purposes only.
The personal opinions of thespeaker and guests do not
represent the view of any otherparty.
If this recording containsreference to financial products,
that reference does notconstitute advice nor
recommendations and may not berelied upon.
Welcome to Finance Friends with Fabian, where we
give our listeners anopportunity to be a part of our
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Podcast on Instagram and TikTok.
(00:27):
Hello listeners.
And today we have StefanD'Alessandro.
How are you going?
I'm well.
How are you?
Very well, mate.
Tell us a little bit about you,stefan.
What do you do?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
for work.
I run a life insurance advicepractice, so I mean you and I
have a very, very long history.
We worked together many, manyyears ago and since you, or
since we parted ways, I was afinancial advisor but now
specialize only in risk, but weoperate a general advice
business.
(01:00):
So it's general advice only,which is a little bit different
to what people in financialservices are used to, but I
think it's got its place.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Fantastic.
So for people that don'tunderstand, what risk when you
refer to risk, what is risk?
What type of insurance are wetalking about?
So we're dealing personalinsurances only.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So life TPD trauma cover, income protection.
So protecting your assets,protecting any liabilities that
you've got, in the event thatsomething bad happens, We've got
a strategy in place for you tobe able to continue on with life
.
I mean, when something badhappens, it may not be
continuing on in life at thesame level it was before, but at
(01:43):
least as a contingency plan inplace.
Yeah, personal insurancegenerally covers yeah, it's the
the well.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
The definition of risk is a chance of something
going wrong, of course, soyou're covering the chance of
something going wrong.
And the one thing that stoodout to me when I started first
working with you many moons agowas when, if someone from your
life insurance company said tome you know what's currently
your biggest asset?
And I thought, well, my car ismy biggest asset.
(02:11):
It was a nice car, wasn't it?
No well, it was probably about$5,000 back then.
It was a nice car for me at thetime.
But the one thing that said, no, what your biggest asset is is
your income, your ability toearn income.
Your ability to earn income,your ability to earn income over
the next 40 years, say so, ifyou have an average income of
(02:31):
$100,000 over 40 years, that's$4 million.
Yeah, Okay, so that's yourbiggest.
Your future income is yourbiggest asset at that point in
my life, and it's crazy that youknow some people young
professionals won't ensure thatearning ability or your future
assets.
So, anyway, let's touch base.
So what do you actually do?
(02:53):
Talk to us about your mechanics.
What is the day-to-day of whatyou do?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Well, I mean, there's a little bit of a difference
between what I used to do in thebusiness and what we do now.
So right now we actually onlydeal in general advice, a
general advice only manner.
So clients have to come to usand direct us in terms of what
they want.
We can educate them and providethem factual information only.
Yeah, but that differs in termsof where it was when I was a
(03:21):
full financial advisor, albeitspecialing in life insurance,
only because we were able toactually put strategies in place
for them and give themrecommendations.
The thing that I found in thisspace of moving into the general
advice space is that we'restill able to empower clients to
make the decisions forthemselves.
I'm a big believer that risk,particularly in the full advice
(03:41):
space, is a lot more complicatedthan it needs to be.
So what we tried to do inpivoting the business model to a
general advice model was putthe decision making back in the
client's hands.
Yeah, give them the factualinformation that they need, um,
but will empower them to work ontheir own levels of cover, the
types of cover that they thinkthat they need, and and then
(04:02):
just facilitate that for them.
So, in terms of the process,yeah, clients will come to us,
we'll give them an idea as towhat the types of cover are,
direct them to some ways thatthey can potentially calculate
their own levels of cover.
There's stuff on you know, theMoney, smart and whatnot that
they can actually use.
And then they come to us andsay you know, can you give us a
(04:24):
market comparison on this, thatand the other?
And we just we act on on theirinstructions.
Basically, yeah, once that oncethey've decided on what they
want, we go away and we canactually put that in place for
them.
Yeah, but, um, yeah, that'sit's.
It's a little bit different tothe full advice model, but I
actually think there's a.
There's a real niche.
The the reason behind that aswell.
(04:44):
The other reason behind doingwhat we did was I was finding,
with the cost to serve under thefull advice model, I was having
to knock back clients who wereyounger yeah, and they tend to
need the cover more like youwouldn't.
You're getting married andyou're starting a family, still
relatively young.
Yeah, cost is obviously a bigissue.
(05:05):
We get paid on commissions butthen charging an advice fee on
that was obviously.
It's not feasible for a lot ofpeople.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So the ability for us to serve those clients by
reducing our cost to serve meansthat I'm actually able to help
more people get cover.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah, and that's the thing that came out of the Royal
Commission was the cost todeliver advice increased, and
now it's arguably the peoplethat need financial advice the
most can't afford it yeah.
I think so, unless, obviouslyyou just mentioned, you can
reduce your cost to servethrough a generalist advice
(05:43):
model or general advice modeland you're able to give advice
to, like you said, youngerprofessionals or younger
families that need assistancewith risk insurance.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, because we can't actually give the advice,
we can still facilitate anoutcome for them.
So, like I've said to a lot ofpeople, it's not for everybody.
There are people who reallyneed the hand held through the
process and we've got the meansto refer them out to a couple of
full advice holistic advicepartners that can help them.
But reducing cost to serve wasobviously a big thing following
(06:19):
the Royal Commission, so it wasjust costing a fortune to
deliver advice.
I'm a big believer in technology, so our process and and our
service delivery is actuallypretty tight as it was, but then
pivoting as well to that gamodel suited us.
It suited my clients too.
So, yeah, I'm actually able tospend more time speaking to them
(06:41):
as, as opposed to doing backoffice stuff and or having to
increase headcount in order tobe able to facilitate that.
I had no headcount sort ofphilosophy when I set the
business up.
I didn't want to hire anyone.
I thought I'll invest intechnology instead, and it's
worked pretty well.
So it's just me in the businessand it works.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
For me it works.
It's not for everybody, but itdoes work.
That's great.
It's the end of the day.
It it's not for everybody, butit does work.
That's great.
It's the end of the day, it'syour business and it's what
works for you.
Yeah, so that's fantastic.
And what does a typical daylook like in the life of Stefan
D'Alessandro at the Risk Lab?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
When I'm not on the golf course, I'm not doing the
work.
So I suppose when I set thebusiness up, I had a really
strong philosophy that I wantedto create some balance for me in
life.
I wanted to be able to createsome time to be able to do
(07:32):
things that are rewarding to meand then, obviously, that would
put me in a mental space thatI'm able to, when it's time to
work, focus.
So a typical day for me wouldnow just involve undertaking
reviews, dealing with businesspartners who refer business to
us and, yeah, I mean I've got apretty good balance.
(07:53):
Admin-wise, things are fairlyautomated now, which is pretty
cool.
And yeah, it's given me a lot offreedom, operating this way, to
do what I want and actually goand meet with potential business
partners who are looking torefer the risk out.
They don't want to particularlydo it, refer clients out that
(08:14):
you know that's not in theirwheelhouse and I operate in a
pretty niche space, so there's alot of things that are in my
wheelhouse as well.
So there's a lot ofopportunities to deal with
potential business partners.
And then the rest of the timeI'm either on the phone or on
Zoom speaking to clients.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Yeah, and that's what I want to do.
And what do you most enjoyabout your job?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Dealing with my clients.
Speaking to people.
Speaking to people, I mean Ilike the whole concept behind
trying to get things done withas little cost to serve means
that I can actually buildrelationships.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Yeah, Spend more time building relationships rather
than on administration, Becausethere is a lot of.
When you are a holistic advisorproviding personal advice, the
documentation that comes withthat is a lot.
Advice the documentation thatcomes with that is a lot.
(09:09):
In some cases, I've heard over100 pages to deliver a statement
of advice, which is a financialplan for a client, which is
what you think is ludicrous.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Oh well, yeah, Look, I don't have an opinion on it.
One way or the other, it's justnot for me.
So I would rather spend timetalking to my clients and
getting to know them and makingsure that they feel a level of
care because I do care aboutthem, as opposed to, yeah,
dealing on more of the backoffice things.
(09:34):
I've set that up in a reallygood way that I think it's
really compliant.
Nothing can slip through thecracks in the way that we've set
things up and now I can focuson them so they get more touch
than they were before.
I'm calling them more often,we're able to market to them
more often, speak to them moreoften, so I think that the
overall service in terms of whatthey see and what they feel is
(09:56):
actually better than I was theway that I was operating before.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Yeah fantastic and maybe it would be good to share
your experience to get to whereyou are today.
Obviously you spoke about,because you've got quite an
interesting background.
We met quite a few years ago.
I think, yeah, I'm trying tothink when.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Maybe 2010?
, I reckon earlier than that, Ithink, we started working
together.
I reckon it was oh eight, yeah,yeah, a long while ago.
A long time ago we were youngbucks.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, we were young bucks and you taught me most of
what I knew in my career, sothank you to that.
But you started because youwere studying.
What were you studying when youfirst finished high school?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
So I did computer science at Swinburne, which is a
far cry from financial services, but worked in a family
business after I finished school.
Family financial servicesbusiness yeah they did financial
planning, mortgage broking.
So I think working in there andthe skill set that I had from
(11:02):
you know, obviously thecomputing background naturally
gravitated towards staying inthe family business and then I
was really lucky in terms ofbeing able to be empowered to
implement some of the you know,the technological solutions that
I'd sort of learnt along theway within that business.
So benefits from both sides.
I was obviously lucky enough toimplement a lot of tech stuff
that I'd sort of learnt alongthe way within that business.
So benefits from both sides.
(11:22):
I was obviously lucky enough toimplement a lot of tech stuff
that I really loved.
I'm really passionate aboutthat.
So I operate another businessin that space.
We've got a digital agency withone of my best mates and we
guinea pig everything on theRisk Lab, which is good, because
if it breaks it's on me, butthe ability to do that in that
business while learning theskills, and then eventually just
(11:44):
I transitioned over to being afinancial planner because it was
just, it made more sense interms of career direction or
whatnot.
Then we met along the way.
I suppose, yeah, we workedtogether for about what?
Five years, I'd say, yeah,close to you, taught me a fair
bit, don't worry.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Close to yeah.
And then from there.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
I mean I'd cultivated a fairly large client base
within that business and thennatural course of progression
for me was I wanted to set upsomething for myself.
Yeah, fantastic, so I broughtthose clients and set them up
under the Risk Lab.
And here we are today.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yep.
So for any listeners that mightbe, you know what might be
considering insurance for themor their family who would be
your ideal client.
Do you have an ideal client?
Or, because your cost to serveis is relatively low, you can on
board and your processes arevery, you know, um, I guess
(12:41):
Streamline Streamline is theright word.
Is there anyone that'slistening who should come and
speak to you?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Well, look, ideal client for me is somebody who is
sort of willing to take oncalculation of their own cover
themselves, so take the reinsand say this is what I think I
want.
In terms of demographic, therereally isn't one.
I prefer to deal with clientswho are sort of young and
growing families, because that'swhen the trigger point, when
you have kids, I think yourmentality shifts.
(13:13):
So, growing up it's like youknow, you and I grew up together
.
I didn't have a family or awife and you kind of feel
invincible.
So I never used to speak to mymates about what I did because,
to be honest with you, I didn'twant to sell or push that onto
them.
Naturally, I think what happensis you start to get married and
(13:33):
have kids and they end upcoming to you going hey, I've
got kids now and I've gotusually a mortgage it's usually
a big one as well and they wantto make sure that they can
protect against, protectthemselves in the event that
something happens.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Protect their families ultimately, yeah, and
it's also about protecting theirfamily.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, I think, particularly as blokes, we kind
of think we'll be right.
Yeah, that Aussie mentality.
Yeah and then you know someonecomes along and then you've got
little ones come along and youthink, well, I'll be right, but
I don't know what will happen ifsomething does happen, so that
you have to kind of look out forthem.
So I mean ideal client, as longas there's somebody who sees a
(14:09):
need to protect themselves orprotect their loved ones, that's
enough for me to be able towork with them.
But if you really want to digdeeper, I suppose those young
and growing families are theones that I'm looking to deal
with, because they've got alonger-term protection strategy
in place as well.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, and what would be the top two or three most
important skills to besuccessful in your role?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Well, I think you need to be able to cultivate
relationships and you need to beable to have a level of
compassion so that peopleunderstand that you actually
give a stuff.
But it's interpersonalrelationships.
That's probably the main skill.
I think there's just a level ofexpectation these days that you
know what you're talking aboutanyway.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
So I don't know, I think that's kind of I wouldn't
say a a level of expectationthese days that you know what
you're talking about anyway.
Yeah, so I don't know, I thinkthat's kind of I wouldn't say a
rite of passage, but it's justan expectation You've got to
know what you're talking about.
But the most important skill iswhether or not you can develop
that relationship on peoplewhere they'll actually trust you
enough to be able to facilitatewhat they want and then trust
you on an ongoing basis to beable to speak to you about it,
(15:21):
and when things change, comeback to you and whatnot.
That would be the single mostimportant skill.
Outside of that, it comesprobably to a little bit of a
technical base, but I thinkagain, I think that's part of
the course.
You've just got to know whatyou're doing if you're going to
be in this industry or thisprofession, yeah, I guess with
any profession you.
You've been doing this now for20 years oh yeah, yes, 19 years,
(15:44):
yeah, a few years, a long time.
It makes me sound like a longtime I know you're not, you're
only 60.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
I feel it sometimes, um, and what's like.
I think setbacks is important,right, because you you're
obviously challenging the statusquo with what you're doing and
you do an exceptional job andcredit to you.
But what setbacks have you hadin your career that come to mind
, and what advice would you giveto anyone that maybe wants to
(16:13):
become a risk specialist?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I'd find it really funny if someone woke up and
said I want to do risk, I wantto be a risk specialist.
I'd find it really funny ifsomeone woke up and said I want
to do risk, I want to be a riskspecialist, because it wasn't my
choice.
I always say nobody wakes up inthe morning and says, hey, I
want to do life insurance advice.
I naturally just gravitatedtowards it because we saw it in
play, working really, reallyearly in my career.
It was in the first six monthsand we were handling a couple of
(16:41):
trauma claims.
So I saw the effect that it hadon the families when we
actually were able to facilitatesomething for them.
That was life-changing.
But yeah, it's a really goodquestion.
In terms of setbacks, though, Ithink I don't think there's
been too many personal setbacks.
(17:01):
I think the setbacks have comefrom circumstance within our
sort of space.
So the Royal Commissionobviously changed a lot of
things.
There's been changes toremuneration.
There's always uncertaintyabout where the space is at
overall and I think that'schanged the mentality.
Like the whole thing about thecost to serve increasing
(17:25):
dramatically was a definitesetback in terms of
strategically where we wereheading in terms of the family
business at the time.
So having to pivot to adifferent model I don't know if
you'd call that a setback, butit definitely had us pivot for a
specific reason.
But outside of that there's nottoo many things that I'd
(17:46):
consider setbacks.
It's just sometimes bad stuffhappens and you've just got to
deal with it and pivot.
So bad stuff happens all thetime in business.
Yeah, exactly right, I thinkthey're learning experiences
rather than setbacks.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I agree, and that's a good mindset to have, and I
always say there's no such thingas a bad day, just an
opportunity to learn.
That's it and I think, the onething that I've been running my
business with recruitment forcoming into five years now.
I just need to get comfortablewith being uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yeah, it's been five years Almost.
Yeah, Well done.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Five years, in January so two months Big party.
Well, I probably party a bittoo much as it is.
I need a rain head in a littlebit.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
I'll wait for my invite though Two months.
All right, I'll put in a diary.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Yeah, two months.
No, maybe we'll just play around of golf.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
That might be a big round.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Yeah, go for a run.
Yeah, go for a run.
You're doing your late 30s,yeah that's 37.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
I'd say he's mid 30s.
Okay, we'll be kind to eachother, that's fine.
Um, what about you?
Tell us a little bit about youpersonally.
We've spoken about age.
You're a big Richmond supporter, yep?
Speaker 2 (18:59):
You want to talk about Richmond now.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
You've waited until 2024 to talk about Richmond.
Well, I only started thepodcast recently.
Who knows?
You've got a lot of draft pickscoming up.
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I haven't been looking forward to the draft for
a long time, but now wedefinitely are.
Yeah, in terms of me, well,you'd know I'm a big sports fan,
so I'll watch any sport, I'llplay just about any sport.
I play soccer, love my PremierLeague, love the Reds.
They're doing quite well at themoment.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
The top of the table at the moment.
Top of the table.
Five points clear.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Exactly, exactly, and the big Arnie Slott is doing
very well.
Yeah, I mean, I love my sport,I love my mates, I love my
family.
I like keeping fit.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
And yeah, I'm having a lot of fun at the moment.
I've got a six and a.
She says a six and a quarter,six and a half-year-old at home.
She's keeping me pretty.
I don't know, some days she'skeeping me, keeping me pretty.
I don't know, someday she'skeeping me young, but other days
she's making me feel really old, yeah, but though again you
talk about the what my day lookslike.
A lot of the way that I've setthe business up was around the
(20:04):
fact that, like we've got onechild, we're only having one
child, and I don't want to missthat.
So a lot of what I do gives methe ability to be really
involved with her life.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
And I love that, Like I don't want to miss anything
She'll have if she's gotassembly at school.
I want to be there.
So pickups, drop-offs, anythingthat I can do to be really
involved and enjoy that journeyI want to, and the business has
given me a lot of opportunity tomake that happen.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
And that's great that you've got that flexibility as
well.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, and it comes down to even going out and
having a round of golf, like wewere talking about pre-podcast.
I want to be able to do thatand take clients out, take
friends out, enjoy life, becauseI think it goes quick,
definitely does.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Definitely does, and you recently ran a marathon.
I did my first marathon, theGold Coast.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Congratulations, I think the party afterwards was
actually my first marathon, theGold Coast Congratulations.
I think the party afterwardswas actually harder than the
race, to be honest, and I'mdoing my next.
We're doing an ultra marathonin February with a couple of my
best mates down at Brimbank andprobably get the Gold Coast done
again next year.
What distance are you doing forthe ultra?
It's 47 or 48.
(21:14):
Is that an?
Speaker 1 (21:14):
organized ultra.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Yeah, it's a backyard ultra, so they do.
You've got to do asix-kilometer loop at Brimbank
within an hour.
Whatever time you do it inwithin the hour, you get the
rest of it at rest.
The rest of that time is resttime and you go again.
So you've got to do seven loopsto get to the 42 and you can do
an eighth to make sure that it's.
(21:36):
It's an ultra.
So it starts at like seven atnight on a friday and it
finishes, I think, in three inthe morning.
And then then there's the guy.
It's a last man standing event,so I'm only doing the limited
one but yeah my big big benson,that yeah yeah, he's six foot
seven, absolute weapon of anathlete and very inspiring to us
.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
So he just did an Ironman on the weekend.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
He did yeah, and he's done this backyard ultra.
He did 123 kilometres before heclocked out.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
So he could work for over 24 hours which is cool, my
gosh.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I don't know how he's bailed me into doing it, but he
has.
I like to have something bookedin from a fitness point of view
so that I can, you know it sortof underpins where I'm at for
training and just keeping fresh.
I feel like if you don't, it'slike a holiday.
If you don't have a holidaybooked in, you've got nothing to
look forward to.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, I think that's really important.
So the fitness thing for meit's like have an event booked
in to train for yeah, and itkeeps me in line, yeah and I
think it's interesting becausewe've now recorded quite a few
podcasts and for very successfulbusiness owners or
professionals, the key theme isand maybe it's just me, because
(22:44):
what's important to me and thepeople I hang around, but you
know fitness is really important.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Do you think it's an age thing?
Do you think it's a shift inthe mentality of where we're at
as a society?
Because fitness was obviouslynot a big thing while I was in
my 20s otherwise I would havebeen playing some soccer.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Yeah, but you obviously were playing soccer.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
So, you played quite a lot.
You still play twice a week.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
We still play futsal twice a week.
I've played futsal since I was12 and I played outdoor for a
few years, but nothing highlevel from an outdoor point of
view.
But I just feel like,particularly the running thing.
I wonder whether it's a lifestage thing or just people in
general are running more.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Maybe you build a little bit more resilience as
you get older, so you knowrunning longer distance.
You don't just tap out after aK, yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
I, so you know, running longer distance you
don't just tap out after a K.
Yeah, I actually took mydaughter for her first park run
on the weekend and I was reallysurprised she got through a
whole kilometre before shestarted to stop and complain.
She did the whole thing, yeah,but that first kilometre I
thought she's either going toget it, that's impressive.
I was very impressed for someonewho doesn't run and she wants
to go back next week, and Ithink maybe it's just a shift in
the mentality in terms ofsociety.
(23:55):
Now People are getting out anddoing more in terms of health
and fitness or there's moreoptions available.
I don't remember there beingpark run when I was six.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
No well, my parents.
I try and get my parents outfor a walk and we go there for
dinner afterwards and mum's likeI can't be bothered.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
We're just a walk.
Yeah, I know Well, it's just awalk.
Yeah, I know Well, we do runclub on a Sunday night with the
boys, which everybody thinks isa bit crazy to run at 8.30 at
night.
But for me that underpins theend of a good weekend and it
sets you up for the start of,hopefully, a good week.
At least you've done somethingpositive to end and start each
(24:30):
week?
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah, agree, no, that's really important.
Well, thank you for coming onpleasure mate.
Finance friends with fabianpleasure, each other for a long
time and classify you as one ofmy good mates yeah, absolutely
so.
Thank you anytime and lookforward to releasing that and
listen to um this podcast, andif you want to get into contact
with stephan, we'll share hisdetails through our podcast and
(24:52):
our socials and I I'll wait forthat invite, that five-year
invite.
Yeah, in a couple of months'time.
Thanks, mate.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Disclaimer this podcast exists for informational
and entertainment purposes only.
The personal opinions of thespeaker and guests do not
represent the view of any otherparty.
If this recording containsreference to financial products,
that reference does notconstitute advice nor
recommendations and may not berelied upon.
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