From Accounting to Financial Planning: Charley Smith’s Journey to Success

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to make the leap from the UK to Dubai for a career in financial planning? In this episode, we sit down with Charley, a UK-born client services manager, to delve into her journey of transitioning from accounting in the UK to working in international financial planning in Dubai. Charley shares her personal motivations for the move, the challenges she faced, and the reality of living in a city known for its luxury and high cost of living. She offers a candid look at the financial and lifestyle adjustments required to thrive in this vibrant metropolis.

Listen in as Charley discusses the significant financial considerations of living in Dubai, from high rent and living costs to the unique benefits of a tax-free income. She also sheds light on the lifestyle contrasts between Dubai and the UK, highlighting how the city’s diverse opportunities and sunny weather offer a different kind of quality of life. Beyond the glitz and glamour, Charley emphasizes Dubai’s wellness and family-friendly aspects, demonstrating that the city is more than just a playground for the wealthy.

In addition, Charley reflects on her career ambitions and how Dubai has opened doors for her in the international financial planning arena. She talks about her plans to expand her qualifications to include U.S. certifications and her vision of potentially moving to other global markets in the future. Tune in to discover how Dubai is shaping her career and personal growth, and gain valuable insights into what it means to embark on an international career in financial planning.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Living in Dubai
• 12:06 Expanding Global Financial Planning Opportunities
• 17:50 Diverse Opportunities and Energy at Hoxton
• 21:56 Work and Life in Dubai
• 31:56 Global Career Opportunities and Flexibility
• 35:38 Professional Development and Future Plans

Transcript

Sam: 0:00

And today's guest on the Financial Planner Live podcast is Charlie Smith from Hoxton Capital Management here in Dubai, and this is a special episode. We get to talk about what it's like living in Dubai from a female perspective. We talk about Charlie's journey from working in a canteen in the UK being inspired by a female financial planner to start her career in financial planning to start her career in financial planning. We discuss why move from the UK to Dubai to do that and the opportunity in the international advice space. I've got to know Charlie really well because I sit opposite her. She's a rising superstar and I think you're going to enjoy this episode if you're interested in joining her in Dubai. Charlie, thanks for joining me today on the Financial Planner Live podcast. How are you?

Charlie: 0:56

I'm great, thank you. How are you?

Sam: 0:58

Not bad, a bit tired. We spent the whole sort of morning, didn't we, doing some filming for the investment manager that hoxton partner with.

Charlie: 1:06

tell us a little bit about what we did today, then so we had adatum in today and they were just going through our relationship together. So how hoxton and adatum work together, um, and how that benefits our clients, um, and sort of how that relationship works lovely.

Sam: 1:22

Yeah, it's all about keeping it simple, wasn't it? You know, at the end of the day, the end consumer doesn't want to be bamboozled by jargon, so it was a lovely soft landing. Wasn't it a way to kind of introduce the investment management team, what they do, how we partner with them, or why that's good for the client. So content like that, I think, is really, really important nice bite size, easily digestible, and we can send that to them and it gives them an insight behind the scenes of what we're doing right.

Charlie: 1:44

Yeah, definitely At Atom. Our professionals are at what they do and we're professionals at what we do. So I think it's sort of highlighting the strength of that relationship and how that ultimately benefits the clients going forward.

Sam: 1:55

Fantastic, great stuff. So how long have you been in Dubai for?

Charlie: 1:58

I have been in Dubai almost one year now. It's gone so quick, honestly, Like I literally feel like I got here yesterday.

Sam: 2:04

so oh, fantastic. Well, I've got a feeling it's going to fly by for me. I can't believe it's been nearly two months since I've been working here at Hoxton as well, obviously back and forth from the UK. But as of next month, the 20th, we should be here fully as a family. Uh, in Dubai it's been a bit of a baptism of fire. This is your first summer as well, isn't it?

Charlie: 2:22

yeah, it's so hot it's literally unbearable. It's ridiculous.

Sam: 2:26

Um, I think yesterday when I looked at the um I guess classic english now talking about the weather yeah, it was about felt like 60, apparently felt like 60 degrees.

Charlie: 2:36

I mean that was just mental yeah, I think you literally feel like you're just like hot all of the time and like you're in full work wear and you have to step out and you're like I need a shower now because it's so humid. But I feel like you do sort of get used to it but ultimately it's. Yeah, it's a big change from being in the uk and being rained on and feeling cold all the time.

Sam: 2:57

Well, this is the thing when you wake up in the morning, you look out the window and it's another sunny day. I find that quite nice. You know, I'd rather be waking up to a sunny day even if I was running from air conditioning to air conditioning in the summer, but very much looking forward to the winter. I hear such positive things. Dubai comes to life. Everyone comes here. There's loads of events going on, um, so I'm, you know, really really looking forward to six months of really cool weather and the daughter over my wife and going to the beach and really enjoying Dubai for what it is now. You're not from Dubai, obviously. You've only been here for a year, so just talk to us a little bit about what you were doing in the UK.

Charlie: 3:33

Yeah, so I originally started off my career in accounts um. So I've worked in a few different industries, but mainly I'd say wealth management, financial services um, just doing a management accounts mainly. And so I'd say wealth management, financial services, just doing management accounts mainly. So I'd done my AAT back in the UK and I worked for some really great companies and got some really great experiences and I also built up a sort of skill set of being analytical, being highly organised and being able to sort of look at financial data. So it was very interesting and I feel like that skill set has now strengthened my ability to be a great financial advisor and it definitely applies to this industry.

Sam: 4:14

Fantastic. So you're on the journey, aren't you, to becoming a financial advisor. Now I always ask people this how did you hear about you're working in wealth management, but how did you sort of gain the confidence or the belief that you wanted to go down the pathway of becoming a financial planner?

Charlie: 4:27

So I worked in financial services but there was a lady there that was one of the big top performing sort of financial advisors and it was amazing to see, because I think at this time I was quite young, like 19, 20. And I remember looking up to her and thinking she was such a role model, um, because I think sometimes financial services comes across as like very ballsy, quite aggressive. You know, some of the ways that you see financial services and wealth management maybe historically has been a bit like that, um, but it was nice to see like this very feminine, very graceful approach to financial planning. Um, and I think I saw her as a role model and then going forward I guess I had her in my mind of like this is ultimately what I would love to do, and I think it's difficult. You have to sort of build your confidence and belief in yourself that you can also do that. But I do think it's more challenging for women, because I think there's less women in the industry.

Sam: 5:22

Yeah, ok, absolutely. I think when we look up to somebody, or if you look up to the leaders in financial planning, for instance, right, there's definitely more men than there are women. I mean it is important that we have more women in leadership roles and I think it's really important as well that those women in leadership roles do step up and talk about the career within financial planning, why it's a suitable for career for women. Because young women like you will look at them and go I can do that and also, women have a completely different perspective. I was recently at the PFS Personal Finance Society and they have created a new podcast and the Financial Planner Life has been producing that podcast and that's five women top of their game within financial planning all sat around a table talking about their perspective on a career within financial planning.

Sam: 6:03

So I a fly on the wall. Right, I'm sat there listening to their podcast because we're recording it, but I've never heard a conversation about financial planning and the career of those that work in it from a female's perspective. It was so, so interesting. Um, everybody has a different dynamic, everybody has a different approach to what they do, but to hear women talking about their approach and I know it was an eye opener, so definitely listen to that podcast because I think that's coming out around about august times. That's via the pfs. Uh, women and wealth is called um fantastic episode, so that should hopefully inspire lots of women who are in the profession to step on up. It's very, very interesting, right, because you've got circa, I think, 9 000 power planners in the uk and 80% of those are women yeah.

Sam: 6:46

I wonder how many of those women in those roles would actually want to step into a financial planning position if there was a clear-cut career framework, somebody within the business that they could look up to. That's a female that would inspire them to step forward into that role, because they're doing it, so does that make sense?

Charlie: 7:01

yeah, 100%, and I think if there's 80% of women doing power planning roles, that means they already understand the industry. They have all of the knowledge, they understand how it works, they understand the requirements. So I think it's a great stepping stone and I think any women that have been in you know accounts, finance, power planning, you know anything like that. Like that skill set is so transferable, you don't always have to start off. You know, as a salesperson, you don't always have to start off, like cold calling or being in a sales position and being a recruiter. You know things like that. There are so many different pathways and I do think that maybe the reason why women don't step up more is because, like you said, it's not very clear what that pathway is for them. Um, and that could be because there is a lack.

Sam: 7:46

There is a lack of women role models yeah, I've seen way more women in coaching roles though, so I've seen a lot of um. It's a lady called katherine morgan who does like coaching training for financial planners. Um in her financial shoes is a post, is a podcast as well, worth you probably listening to it. But when you look on instagram, tiktok or anywhere where there's like a social media presence, there are a lot of women talking about money. But they're kind of aligning themselves more to the coaching type role.

Sam: 8:15

But it suits them because of the empathic nature of women and the highly organized side of it and a bit more an emotional connection. I always think the coaches that are women come across well, um, and I listen to them and follow them more than I would the male coaches.

Charlie: 8:31

So that transferring then into actually the advice side of things is is amazing, because if you can coach your clients, then give advice, then absolute win-win right 100, and I think people forget that the client base isn't always like men, like there are a lot of women clients and there are a lot of husbands and wives, you know. So there could be women that prefer to have a female advisor because they prefer a more soft, compassionate, empathetic approach. So I feel like sometimes people forget that and I think that that's what we're sort of missing in the industry yeah, okay, so brave move coming to Dubai because it is predominantly male.

Sam: 9:07

Yeah, have you found that?

Charlie: 9:09

Yeah, I think financial services, you know, generally is more male dominated. But, yeah, definitely I think Dubai, there are definitely a lot of men out here, yeah, wanting to, you know, make it big and be successful. But I do see quite a lot of women coming over here, predominantly as like teachers and things like that actually, and there seems to be quite a lot of teachers and those sorts of roles. But I think it would be great if more women would come over here and and try, you know, an industry like, like wealth management why did you decide to come to Dubai then?

Sam: 10:28

um, because you could have started your career within financial planning in the UK. Why did you think, well, actually, do you know what? I'm going to turn this on its head. I'm going to go international instead.

Charlie: 10:40

I think, especially after Covid.

Charlie: 10:42

Um. So I worked in London for for seven years and I think what I noticed was that London sort of lost its edge and it sort of it went from like a really upcoming buzzing environment and it was exciting, you know, even doing the commute every day, everybody was bustling and excited to go to work and I don't know what it was. But I think after COVID it completely lost its soul, like it became quite a soulless place and all of that energy and excitement went and so logically, logically, I was thinking where can I go that's going to replace that buzz? Like that buzz feel, that excitement, that hunger, the drive, um, because I needed that and I wanted that, I was looking for that and I just felt like London just did not have that anymore.

Charlie: 11:25

Um, and you know, from from researching and even from looking at TikTok and Instagram and things like that, I think it's fairly obvious that Dubai is that upcoming buzzing place. It is full of energy and you know people wanting to be successful and people wanting to work hard, and so I thought it was a no-brainer really.

Sam: 11:43

Yeah, fantastic. So you came over. What was the? How did you hear about Hoxton? What was your journey from the uk to actually ending up, uh, in a seat next to me?

Charlie: 11:54

yeah, um, yeah, so I was just sort of uh researching, I guess, uh, wealth managers uh in dubai, and sort of looking at companies that would sort of match what I was hoping for. I wanted to go for like a forward thinking, modern approach industry. You know, I think I had worked in some wealth managers in the UK and I would say they were dinosaurs in terms of it's always been done this way, so that's how we're going to continue to do it, and so I wanted to go for a younger company, you know, people that actually have new ideas and have different ways of doing things, and Hoxon just just seemed to tick those boxes for me yeah, no, I agree, it's a very entrepreneurial environment and I've looked at the whole market and have done for 16 years.

Sam: 12:38

And having a podcast, I get to look under the bonnet and ask the questions. I've known chris now for quite some time. I was always in the background talking to him over email or sharing ideas, pitching ideas at him. He knew I was quite an entrepreneurial individual and we really wanted to work together in some form of capacity. But we couldn't quite work out how to do it. But it's weird because my perception of the offshore I don't want to say offshore anymore the international market right, my perception of it was very different to the realities of it. So when I actually ended up coming over to dubai and I went and met a couple of different wealth managers, um financial planning firms, I was pleasantly surprised as to what it was like over here and just how high the standard actually was.

Sam: 13:21

I just felt the international market wasn't selling themselves to the uk market very well and it was left in the hands of horror stories about things that have gone wrong or people that have come over here historically when it was a bit like you know, stack it high, sell it cheap, commission-based sales coming over and sort of looking under the bonnet, especially with Hoxton being a fee-based financial planning company, $2 billion under management, been going for six years sitting down with every single facet of the business, all the different leaders within it, the tech team looking at what they're doing around technology, the app, the in-house matrix system, how that links together six different jurisdictions worldwide presence. For me was like right, there's something here. We've got all these millionaires leaving the uk. You've got all these millionaires internationally leaving different countries. People moving around the world's becoming a much smaller place. So for me it was like there's something in this.

Sam: 14:19

You know this is too exciting the ability for a financial planner in the uk. Right, this is what blew me away. You look at michael yule, or something like that. He's sitting over in france, yeah right, he's got clients over in south africa and he also services clients in the uk. That's amazing right. You couldn't do that if you were just a UK advisor being authorized by the FCA.

Sam: 14:38

One of the other things that kind of blew my mind a little bit was that if I was a UK-based advisor, I had clients right, I could come and join Hoxton, continue to service those clients from Dubai, right, that's okay. So I've got that level of recurring income still coming in, but from Dubai it doesn't mean I have to just advise clients that are in Dubai. So a benefit of being I'm tax free in Dubai yeah, I could be advising clients in the USA, which we do, on things like 401ks and IRA rollovers, right, yeah, I could be advising clients that are in Australia.

Sam: 15:10

Yeah it's an amazing place to base yourself tax free. There's a huge benefit, yeah, but then I'm not actually just limited to the uae and I think the perception is, when the people in the uk think about going to work in dubai, that they have to build this uh client uh database in a client base in in dubai. It's incredibly competitive in dubai, right, it's. It's not easy, and so I just want people to understand that, like you know, you might base yourself into buy. It doesn't mean all you're dealing with is locals, or it doesn't mean that all you're dealing with is expats into buy. They're there, yeah and they come through.

Sam: 15:43

But the interesting thing is they might then go off to the states. They might go back to south africa, they might go to europe, they might go to the uk and you can continue looking after your uk clients. So I think people need to understand that, like there, that's the opportunity in my eyes, and when it dropped the penny, I was like whoa man, like no one's talking about that properly, so no one's educating the financial advisors in the UK. This is what you can actually do.

Charlie: 16:03

I think that's pretty powerful yeah, and I think like if you're just doing UK clients in the UK, then you know as great as that might be for a short time or for a long period of time, if that's what you're happy with, you are limited you, because you're limited on a set of circumstances that most of those people are going to be experiencing. You're limited the regulations in that area of the country and the tax and everything. It's very specific and it's very set. You know rules might change, governments might change, but overall circumstances for majority of people are very similar.

Charlie: 16:35

And I think that advising globally is amazing because you get all of these different circumstances and all of these different opportunities come up. And it's actually exciting because you get to build a financial plan that is like exciting and different and you have all of these different options that you can look into. Um, so you know, being able to advise globally to all of these different people in all of these different areas of the world, it just opens up so many opportunities for you, like not just to learn but also to earn. So instead of having a limited client book that's just UK and that's all you're ever going to do, you can have like so many different client books all around the world. And yeah, there's just, there's no stopping you, because there's always going to be an inflow of clients that need your help.

Sam: 17:19

Yeah, fantastic when we think about your future. Okay, let's just let everyone know what it is you're currently doing at the moment and we'll talk about your kind of ambitions and your goals. Yeah, because you're a young person now within financial planning is certainly younger than me right Now, considered middle age, sadly. Manning is certainly younger than me right Now, considered middle-aged, sadly, believe it or not. But let's look at what you're doing now. Give people an insight into what you're doing at Hoxton.

Charlie: 17:46

Yeah, so I've been at Hoxton almost a year now and I've come on as a client services manager. So my role predominantly is to ensure that clients are looked after and serviced correctly across the business and also to deal with any orphan clients. You know, sometimes advisors may leave, they may go on to different opportunities, so it's my job to ensure that they're passed over to the correct advisors and they're serviced properly. But I would say that I don't know if it is mainly a Dubai thing and maybe it is because there are so many opportunities. But I would say that your job role doesn't really explain what you do, and I think people might agree with me there, because I do so many different things. There's so many areas of the business that I can get involved in, and I think that's the thing with an up and coming young company. There's so many areas that you can get stuck in and you can really show your diverse skill set.

Charlie: 18:40

So since I've worked at Hoxton, I've done marketing seminars and I've worked on videos, like I did this morning with you guys, and I've also done a lot of project work. So me, chris and Charlie have been working on the funds that Adatim have set up, so we've been working on how they're, have been working on the funds that Adatim have set up. So we've been working on how they're set up and how that works, logistics of those for the clients. I've also done model rebalances and portfolios for clients to ensure that they're where they need to be. So I've got involved in the investment side of things as well as the client side. You know I've had client meetings, I've done fact finds, I've done risk profile questionnaires with some clients just to ensure that everything's up to date and that they're happy. So overall I've done so many different things that really can't even be summed up from my job title.

Sam: 19:27

No, I love it. I think what's really interesting as well is you're quite lucky in the sense that you've got access to some of the leaders within that business, right? And when you have access to some of the leaders within the business, right, and when you have access to some of the leaders within the business, it's like having a management toolkit in your pocket coaches, people to inspire you, people that can push you that little bit further. Um, I think that's just hugely important. And me coming into that business, running my own business on my own, I often felt like I was lonely, even though you're the business owner. It's often one of those things that people don't really see. The business owner is feeling lonely because you think we've got a whole business, but you do because you don't really have anybody to kind of bounce ideas off of and all that kind of thing. So when I came into this business, it was for me it was like this rainbow of different talents that I could tap into, and it lends itself to that.

Sam: 20:13

There's an energy here.

Sam: 20:15

Whether that's the Dubai energy, I don't know, but there's definitely an energy at Hoxton where everybody's trying to help each other and trying to give everybody else a leg up and for me that's so important because I'm high energy, I like to do things quickly, I like to fail fast, I like to learn, I want instant feedback and I get that in that environment. And one thing I've learned from, uh, chris charlie jacob nobody's afraid to fail, and for me that's empowering. There's nobody saying no, no, no, no, it's just like right, let's have a go, let's have a go, and I'm like instantly, within a couple of, within a couple of months. I've had to go at loads of things and for me that's exciting and to be part of that energy I think is transferable and I think if you're the right type of person who sees that, you'll grab it with both hands yeah, 100%, and I feel like Dubai as a whole, you need to ensure that you're a proactive person, so you know you can't sit around and just hope that opportunities fall into your lap.

Charlie: 21:15

You just sit here for hours and think, oh, I wish I could have done that or I wish I could do this. You actively need to go and ask people. You know you need to be like oh, I've seen so and so do this. Can I get stuck in? Or not even ask? Just go and do it and see, you know, and then you know, ask for feedback, and I think that's really important. Like this is not the sort of place where you can sit back and just expect things to be given to you. You need to have a certain work ethic and grit to be able to just really get stuck in and, like you said, it's really exciting and beneficial because you get to try all of these different things and even if you fail at majority of them and then you find one or two areas that you love, that's still like a really amazing journey.

Sam: 21:56

I do think you're spot on there and I want people to understand, because everyone thinks I wonder what it's like working internationally. Is it any different? It is in the UK. I think it's massively different. Yeah, and I think that's across the board yeah.

Sam: 22:09

I don't think that's just an isolated Hoxton thing. I think if you want to be a success in somewhere like Dubai, I think you have to have a certain type of work ethic and it is go for it. It's be an activist, it's work hard, it's look after yourself so you can perform better. It is a growth mindset environment. If you want to coast, I don't think it's the right environment for you. I've noticed that culturally, the culturally the difference between the uk and here. It suits me more because I often felt sometimes in the uk that I was almost kind of looked at as being a bit bit mad if I asked for people to do more or I wanted to do more, I wanted to grow faster.

Sam: 22:52

Yeah, it was kind of like, well, why, you know? You know, let's do four day work weeks. I'm like, yeah, I'm not really into that. I am into right, let's crack on, let's get going, let's. There's a lot of work to be done. I enjoy that energy, you know, but I feel like that's the energy which is why I feel quite comfortable here.

Charlie: 23:08

Yeah, it's nice and I think you know, if you're the sort of person that just wants to do your job and go home and that's it and you're not interested in, you know, reaching these big goals and you have no interest in building, like, a really exciting big career, that's absolutely fine, you know, there's no issue with that. We do need people like that. Otherwise we'd have people constantly wanting to, you know, have promotions every couple of months and be the best of the best all the time. So that's absolutely fine.

Charlie: 23:43

But I feel like for Dubai, if you're coming here, you need to have the attitude where you do want to be the best and you are willing to put in the work and you are hungry for it, because I feel like coming out of here and starting a new career it's extremely uncomfortable.

Charlie: 23:51

You know there are going to be struggles. You are going to have days where you're like I don't know if I made the right choice, because I feel like in the UK maybe it is a little bit more comfortable, is easier. There are certain like there's certain things that are set up there in a way to make you comfortable and I feel like Dubai strips that, like it takes it all away, and you're almost starting from nothing, like from the bottom, and you're like, oh my god, what have I done? Um, but that's what you the bottom, and you're like, oh my God, what have I done? But that's what you have to do and you have to be prepared to be uncomfortable. If you want to get to where you want to get to, you have to be uncomfortable and you just have to keep trying.

Sam: 24:28

Yeah, good advice. I think definitely no point in sugarcoating it. It's tough and you know Dubai is expensive.

Charlie: 24:36

It's so expensive.

Sam: 24:38

Yeah it. Uh, it's tough and, um, you know dubai is expensive, it's so expensive. Yeah, you know you've. And the economy is moving quickly, house prices going up, rent going up, cost of living going up. Um, it may be tax-free, but that's not to say it doesn't cost five quid for a coffee sometimes a hundred percent, yeah, I think, because it's tax-free.

Charlie: 24:52

A lot of people think I could be earning so much more because it's tax-free, but you do need to remember that there are things that cost more here.

Charlie: 24:59

Um. An example, because I never knew this before I came here and I think it's important that that people know this if you want an apartment in Dubai and I don't mean sharing with others, I mean if you're like, well, I've always lived on my own, I've always had an apartment in London I really want an apartment it's very unlikely that you will ever be able to pay monthly for that apartment. So most landlords here are going to be asking you for one check, maybe two, maybe three or four if you're lucky. So that means you need to have enough money behind you to pay, basically a year's rent up front and if you don't have that, good luck like it's never going to happen you're never going gonna be able to pay monthly um. So in the uk, like I said about being comfortable, we're very lucky, we only have to pay. We pay monthly, we pay our bills monthly, um, and we pay one month upfront deposit.

Sam: 25:48

Yeah, that doesn't exist here yeah, exactly, which makes it very difficult if you're a younger person, right, yeah, um. But you know, same as the uk, you can share accommodation with other people, and that's kind of what most people do. So there is affordable ways to do it. But you know, gone are the days. I remember Chris told me about a horror story when he first came to Dubai as an accountant. You know, I'll go to Dubai and become a financial planner. I know some people that are making some good money. Anyway, spent quite a great deal of his time on a blow up mattress on the floor with, I think, six other gentlemen.

Sam: 26:18

So, you know you hear these horror stories. Jacob's told me a few and I think I'm going to try and get a few out of him on the podcast next week, because it's been tough in the past.

Charlie: 26:27

Yeah.

Sam: 26:28

Okay, time now is different. Yes, financially it can be quite tough, but it's not as bad as it used to be in the past. It's a different place and time now. But I think I would 100% say don't underestimate the cost. Agreed, it is expensive. If you want to live the Dubai lifestyle, right, yeah, you've got to earn some serious money.

Sam: 26:53

Don't think this is paradise in the sense you can come over and all your problems are going to disappear just because it's a new country and instagram tells you that everyone's having a great time right there's a cost associated to everything yeah just bear that in mind and I think the one the advice about the, the renting was a massive one, because that took me by surprise yeah, I had no idea, literally no idea.

Charlie: 27:09

It was like one check, yeah for a whole year, like try it with.

Sam: 27:13

Try it when you got a family right. So when you got a family and you want to live in a certain area, I reckon it's going to cost me 50k a year to rent Minimum right. Then you chuck on top of that my cost for sending Isabella to school Lucky I've only got one kid right that's another 15,000 a year.

Charlie: 27:31

Yeah, it is expensive, and even cars out here are more expensive. Like to buy a car is more expensive, to finance a car is more expensive. So there's all of these costs that I don't think people think about. And you know, it's great because the metro is actually amazing, like compared to the uk. It's great it comes every two minutes and it's clean and it's safe, and it's great they even have a woman's section on there, um, but it's not accessible for everyone because it depends which area you live in. So if you want cheaper rent, you may choose to live further out, but then that means you need a car because you can't get to work without that. So it's you have to balance, like you have to think about these things before you just get a flight and come over here and think that you're just gonna like land into the ideal situation yeah, no, I get it, fully understand that.

Sam: 28:20

But you know good times as well, when the sun's shining and the weather's good. You got the beaches, you got the city. I mean, it's a city that never sleeps. It's good it's good fun. It's good energy. I was down on west uh beach west palm west palm yeah, I was on there sweating in my jeans and t-shirt like ridiculous tourist, but I could see how that in the um winter time here, which is like the summertime in the uk, yeah um, would be absolutely pumping and fun.

Sam: 28:46

I was at the hotel I'm at at the moment. They got a rooftop bar yeah, you know it's just like. I love the way that, like at the weekend, I'm gonna be able to go to one of I don't know 60 different hotels that all have different pools and beaches attached to them. That Privilege card like you spend, I think it's about a hundred pound a month.

Charlie: 29:03

Yeah.

Sam: 29:03

But you get access to loads of gyms, yeah, and you get access to loads of beaches and clubs and the kids clubs and I was like hang on, that's really cool. So when you think about it, and you've got 52 weekends a year, right, think about it, and you've got 52 weekends a year, right, and then you've got your holiday you take from work. That's a lot of time in the sunshine in another country with beaches and pools and accessibility.

Sam: 29:25

I mean, my daughter's only got one pool in our little local village and it's a shit hole yeah, so it's kind of like hang on, my daughter's just getting mental for it and she's like there's like the world's biggest water park there for me on the palm, yeah, and there's loads of restaurants and me and my wife can go out and explore the city. So I think for families. I'm looking at it and I'm thinking to myself well, this is pretty cool. There's a lot more to do here than there is in the UK as a family, and I suppose the guarantee is the weather as well, which is quite nice.

Charlie: 29:52

Yeah, I think in the winter especially is great, because I used to remember in London you would get home and it'd be dark outside and you'd be knackered and you would just go home, watch telly, maybe head to the gym, that's it. That's like your week is done. But I think the great thing about Dubai is, even when work is finished in the wintertime, everybody does stuff Like me and Amelia, like we literally used to go for walks on the beach after work and we used to go get like an acai bowl and like just sit and watch the sunset. And I was just thinking like I feel so blessed to have that, because it does make a really big difference to your happiness.

Charlie: 30:29

And I do think as well there is another side to Dubai that it's not always this partying, going out, boozing and stuff like that. There are like some really good health and fitness and wellness spaces, so there's so many opportunities to like go to yoga, do Pilates and things like that, so it doesn't always have to be like you have to go to the most nicest restaurants and drink loads and party loads, like there is this whole wellness side and I think it's really important to highlight that because, um, I don't think that side is as obvious as the glitz and the glam and the drinking and the partying in the restaurants I've been leaning into that yeah, so I've been looking at that on instagram and because my wife and me try to maintain a healthy life, she's got this brand called Wild Moon, which used to make jewellery.

Sam: 31:16

But we're aiming to take that Wild Moon brand into like Wild Moon boutique and also sell matcha. So the idea is to try and create like almost a matcha coffee house, like start with what was it? We should call it a matcha house. Right, sell like iced matches, different flavored matches and things, but also then sell quite cool boho type clothing.

Sam: 31:36

So you know that kind of like um sydney, look the australia, boho look, I think that would fit in really well out here. So like a kind of city stroke surf. Look, yeah, and I think I don't know, is the bike got that kind of vibe or that? Look, I don't, I don't know. I think um doing something like that. You know? Another thing that does to me like when I'm here it makes me feel entrepreneurial because it does have that energy like you could come out, you could set up a business, you could get cracking on it. It's tax-free, you know you could put your energy into something, can it? So this again, it's an environment where people are spending money. So you kind of feel like, if you've got an idea and no one's doing it, crack on with it, because you'll probably make a few quid.

Charlie: 32:14

Yeah, no, a hundred percent. I think it's great for people that you know want to start a business, or even people that want to work here and save up like you know, they just save up loads of cash. You know it's tax-free cash now to invest it in a business or to go and buy a house somewhere. There's so many people I know that have moved here and been here quite a few years now and they have multiple properties now back in the UK because they've been able to save up all this tax-free cash. So I think it's okay if Dubai isn't your forever and I don't think it's a forever for everyone Even if it's just a short to long-term place for you to build a career, to build wealth, to invest, that's fine. If you decide that after you've had that experience and you've built all of that, if you then decide you want to return home or go elsewhere because you prefer the lifestyle, to have a family, etc. Then that's absolutely fine.

Charlie: 33:08

And I think that people need to just be aware that there is flexibility.

Sam: 33:12

It doesn't have to be permanent that's what I love about hoxton, with their multi-jurisdiction approach the ability to service clients from anywhere in the world, not lose clients when you leave, because historically people would come out to buy, yeah, and then go back to the uk and everything they built up had gone. Yeah, in fact, most of them weren't even fee-based. You know, there was no recurring, no recurring income. They were just fat-end commissions.

Sam: 33:30

You know, so the ability to come out, do some work here and then maybe want to go back to the UK. If you wanted to, that's cool, you can do it. But we're growing in the US, we're growing in Australia, we're growing in South Africa. We've got a Cyprus license so you can passport anywhere in Europe. So that's a as well. So it's not all in. You can be transient with your job, you can move country to country and as a business that wants to grow and get more and more offices internationally.

Sam: 33:56

You grow with the company at the same time. So it really does suit that globe trotting type individual that doesn't want to be stuck in one place yeah um, and it's exciting. As my wife would say, she's looking forward to the adventure let's have an adventure, sam, you know, and I'm like, yeah, cool, let's have an adventure. And that's how I'm looking at my career now it's an adventure I'm off to america. Next month I'm going to go fly over to france as well, see michael.

Charlie: 34:18

So it's kind of like, oh, like it's exciting, you know yeah, and I think it's great because hoxton gives you the opportunity to study right. So I'm doing my c level four. I have one exam left and then I will be level four qualified, so I'll be qualified to give UK advice. And then also the fact that there's the ability to study the US exams, so I'll be able to do series 65. And then if I wanted to study Cyprus, I could do that as well, and then even Australia.

Charlie: 34:50

If I decided I eventually wanted to go into that market, then Hoxton would provide the support for me to be able to do that. And then, like you were saying, if you did decide you wanted to move there, it's great because you already have all of those exams, you're qualified in all of those regions now. So if in 5-10 years I turned around and said, well, I've been in Dubai 10 years, I'm series 65 qualified, that means I can advise US persons. Actually I've decided that I'm going to go move to LA now and that's going to be my, my next step. So I think that's that's really good yeah, I love that brilliant.

Sam: 35:21

I love the. That gives you that vision, doesn't? It gives you that kind of thing to look forward to. You can think about your profession, you can think about your career differently. It opens the world up to you. At the end of the day and again, it's kind of important to me is that if you ever want to go back to the UK, it's there, right. So it's a place you can go back to if you wanted to, right? You mentioned doing the CISI here. How are you getting on with that?

Charlie: 35:41

Yeah, no good, I've done two.

Charlie: 35:46

So I started off with UK regulations and then I did financial planning and I'm now doing investment, risk and tax and I will be honest, it's the trickiest one of the three um, but I saved it till last because I knew it would be the one I have to put the most effort into um.

Charlie: 36:00

But it's great as well, because Hoxton not only pay for your exams and have that support, but they also have like a study I don't know, it's like a study coach that comes in. Her name's Rebecca. She's absolutely lovely um and she comes in once a week and she can go through question papers with you. She can go through content material with you, she does practice tests with you and that's great because it holds you accountable and it also you have somebody there 24, 7, almost so if you're really stuck with something, she'll have the time to sit down and go through everything with you. Um, I think that's great because there's I don't think there's any company that I've worked for so far that that have offered that sort of support no, I love it, great stuff.

Sam: 36:38

So what's the future hold for you then? What are you thinking about from the future? Sort of medium, short, long term? What, what you know? What are you hoping to achieve in the next, say, 6, 12, 24?

Charlie: 36:48

Yeah. So I think, definitely, obviously passing this exam would be great so I could be level four qualified and then having my own clients would be great, with the support of Chris. And then I would also like to study the series 65. There's so much opportunity in the US market and I've seen that since working here know US persons with 401ks, iras. There's so much, there's just so much opportunity there to help them. So I'm definitely going to be studying that next and then, yeah, advising US people, advising UK people, and then maybe eventually, once I've built up my own client book, like I said, maybe eventually I'll move to LA and live there for a bit and we'll see.

Sam: 37:34

I love it, charlie, listen. Thanks for sharing today your journey at Hoxton, your journey from the UK to Dubai, the ups, the downs, the realities of deciding to become an international financial planner, and we wish you all the best. And obviously, we'll continue getting to know each other and I'll be supporting you every step of the way in areas that I can as well.

Charlie: 37:54

Perfect thanks Sam, it's been great. Thank you for having me.