One Year with Platinum: Michael Geddis

At Platinum, we love to celebrate milestones with our employees and today we are celebrating the first anniversary of our financial planner Michael Geddis joining our team. Now that he has completed his first year, it is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on his journey. Time certainly does fly when you are working with dedicated and talented individuals like Michael.

If my colleagues had to describe me in three words they would say that I am…

Level-headed, reliable, and passionate

What is your job title?

Independent Financial Planner

What do you love about working within financial services?

I love that no two days are the same and I get to meet a variety of different people who all have different circumstances. I enjoy putting a plan in place for these clients so they can leave feeling more informed and confident about their future.

Why did you choose Platinum?

When I researched the company, the values really aligned with my own and where I wanted to go. Being invested and always improving really stood out to me.

I liked the fact that Platinum are independent. It is important to me because we are able to provide the best solution for our clients so there is more of an opportunity to research the whole of the market without being restricted.

I interviewed at Platinum’s Belfast office and straight away I had a really good feeling about the company. There was such a warm and inviting atmosphere. Throughout the interview process I was really impressed with how invested the company is in career progression and its people. This formed the basis for me to build a career with Platinum.

How has your role changed over the past year?

I joined Platinum as a Trainee Financial Planner.  As part of my initial development, I worked as a Paraplanner building on my previous experience. Platinum then supported me with a tailored training and development programme to support my move into the Financial Planner role.

Being fully qualified, I already had the technical knowledge but the training programme helped me with making the transition into working more directly with clients.

I have been so supported by the team over the last year and I have learnt a lot from everyone. Being able to observe the other advisers has really helped me to pick up different skills from each of them.

What do you see as your biggest achievement since you started with Platinum one year ago?

It would have to be realising my long-term ambition to become a qualified independent financial planner. I am also really enjoying building relationships, helping clients overcome their challenges and achieve their life goals.

What is your favourite part of the job?

Sometimes clients can feel nervous talking about their finances and don’t always understand how their pensions for example can work. I try to put clients at ease, help them make sense of their existing pensions or investments and reassure them that we have the right knowledge and solutions to help them get to where they want to be. Helping clients to see their future more clearly and in a lot of cases realise that things are better than they initially thought is just so rewarding. For me, it’s all about the people.

What is your biggest hope for this next step of your career?

There have been some big changes this past year and I am looking forward to building on this with the support of an experienced and friendly team behind me.

Beyond that, I would like to gain chartered status.

I am also getting married next year so that is a big one to look forward to!

What is your favourite way to unwind outside of work?

I have been going to a personal trainer for the past 3 months and following a plan of exercise and nutrition. It has been a complete lifestyle change but the benefits outweigh the negatives. I feel better about myself and it gives me a focus and a goal to work towards. Always improving!

I also have a dog called Fergal and I enjoy taking him to the beach with my partner Aishling, we usually follow that up with a nice lunch out.

Do you have a secret talent?

No!

Are you watching anything right now that you would recommend?

I just watched the Beckham documentary which was great. I found it fascinating to get some insight into what was going on in his life behind the scenes and how much he has overcome in his career while being under so much pressure. I never realised there was so much that he had to deal with.

If you had to pick 3 celebrities, living or dead, to host a dinner party for, who would you choose?

I would have to choose Roy Keane. I have listened to some of his podcasts recently. He has a no-nonsense approach, is very hardworking and I think he would be a good laugh and have some stories to tell.

Michael Jordan, because he has such an ambitious mindset and it would be really interesting to see how I could apply his approach to my own lifestyle. He just thinks differently to everyone else.

Finally, Kevin Hart because he could do anything and it would be funny and he would always make me laugh.

Want to find out more about our talented team?

Then check out our meet the team page or keep up to date with our recent blog posts by discovering our news and insights section.