One thousand days — and counting

CAPE TOWN, Thursday, 6 July 2017 — Carrick Wealth reaches significant milestone on the road to redefining wealth management and helps re-charter the map of the financial services industry.

One thousand days to the day since launching, Carrick Wealth has gone from a start-up of six people to a successful company with more than US$220-million offshore assets under management and R150m onshore.

Chief Executive Officer Craig Featherby said he never gave a thought to the odds stacked against them when he made the decision to start Carrick.

“If you consider that 92% of all start-ups fail within the first one-thousand days, many thought we were crazy, but we’re up there with the elite top eight percent who do manage to survive,” he said. “It’s not been plain sailing: it required courage, determination, grit, and perseverance from a solid group of colleagues.”

Within six months of launching, Carrick hosted its first conference in January 2015, attended by more than 70 delegates. By the following year that number had doubled. And after one year in business Carrick had achieved more than a billion rand in invested assets under management — double the set target.

Carrick, now recognised as leaders in wealth and capital management, provides financial planning and wealth management from six fully compliant-regulated offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mauritius. Featherby said plans are in place to expand into the rest of Africa – including Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda.

In 2016, Carrick opened an office in Mauritius and established an in-house marketing team to drive the brand. In the same year, it won the International Advisor Best Practice Awards for “Excellence in Investment Planning” and Excellence in Business Transformation” in South Africa.

Featherby said it was an honour to be acknowledged in what is an extremely competitive commercial environment. The Awards recognised 18 advisory firms across Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, and the Middle East for their work in building a sustainable business model.

“Wealth management is based on sound financial principles,” he said. “But life is unpredictable and can change in a heartbeat. Our job is to find ways to protect our clients’ capital and to build continuing wealth through innovative strategic solutions, sustainable implementation, and on-going management.”

Carrick also launched a graduate programme — the Carrick Development Academy (CDA) — designed to train, equip, and qualify advisers for the financial planning sector. In addition, Carrick was the main sponsor of the first solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean on a stand-up paddleboard (SUP). Chris Bertish, the 42-year-old South African who made the 7 500 km crossing in 93 days of non-stop paddling, is currently a Carrick Wealth Ambassador. Bertish said he selected Carrick from a number of (very lucrative alternatives) because of the company’s corporate social initiative and its principles of independence, integrity, and transparency sat well with his sense of spirit, his drive for adventure, and his compassion for others.

Featherby said, “In the last three years —32 months, three weeks, four days to be exact — the sector has seen significant legislative changes, observed ‘interesting’ political outcomes (and continues to do so), and has seen that the market remains unpredictable.

“On the plus side, clients today are better educated and informed. And it’s our relationship with them that has enabled us to build a significant and respected business, that is highly spoken of in many circles.”