Q&A with Co-Founder and Director of Evergreen Consultants
Angela Ashton has decades of experience in fund research and asset allocation and this year, together with Brett Baker, has opened the doors to Evergreen Consultants. She tells Industry Moves what sets Evergreen apart from other research firms, shares her goals for the first 12 months and names the three attributes of her ideal clients.
Angela Ashton has decades of experience in fund research and asset allocation and this year, together with Brett Baker, has opened the doors to Evergreen Consultants. She tells Industry Moves what sets Evergreen apart from other research firms, shares her goals for the first 12 months and names the three attributes of her ideal clients.
What was the impetus for starting up Evergreen Consultants?
There are a lot of financial planning practices out there that are now reaching a sizable scale - they could have say $100, $200m under advice. In reality, they are small institutions. We think they should be treated as such. The funds they have under advice represent the hopes and dreams of hundreds of people. It is behest on us to make sure those funds are invested in line with best practice standards. That doesn't just mean giving a planning group some standard model portfolios someone has thrown together - it includes governance, objective setting, management, monitoring and communication.
What will be your main differentiator to other research firms?
There are a couple of things that set us apart. Brett (Baker, Evergreen's co-founder) and I often say that we want to 'stand on the shoulders of giants'. For us, that means we stay a fairly lean company, but we hire part-time or consulting expertise as much as we need to. For example, we subscribe to two data systems: FE and Morningstar Direct. We have a board of directors, whose members include Denis Carroll (the founder and first CEO of AvSuper). We are building an asset allocation committee of significant substance. We only need those people once a month or so, but we get the best people we can find so that our services are of outstanding quality.
Further, we're not looking to build the next Lonsec or Zenith. We are ideally after 10 great clients who we can grow with and be close to. We will always be a boutique.
Who do you see as your ideal clients?
They're probably a bit like us: independent, boutique and committed to excellence.
Who will be joining you in the business?
Brett Baker is a co-founder. Denis Carroll is on the board and we have one other person who will become a director over the next few months. We will build an asset allocation committee of about 3 external people. We're also currently talking to a number of offshore groups regarding other software that will be useful for us. We may also hire a part-time quant to do some specialist work for us.
How has your previous experience prepared you for this new business?
I've had decades of experience in fund research and asset allocation. I've also consulted for years, so that I could be flexible around children. This is a logical progression.
What are the biggest goals for the first 12 months?
To bed down our current clients and gain one or two more. To build the asset allocation committee and get it humming. To finalise the board. To build offshore partnerships as needed.
Who do you most admire and how have they influenced your life/work?
From a personal point of view, I have a friend who lost a son. Grace under that enormous pressure and immense sadness is something I admire and try very hard to emulate when needed (although I hope, selfishly, to never to experience that profound loss).
What is the best advice you've been given?
I think it's just to 'persist'. Things usually take far longer than you think so it's better to be prepared to run the marathon, rather than the sprint.
Where did you grow up?
Woolloongabba in Brisbane. The kids were all first generation Australians and most of us (including me) were 'ESL' (English as a second language). It was a great place to grow up - a rainbow of cultures and languages - but we were all wogs!
What was your very first job?
McDonalds on Annerley Rd in Year 11 and 12.
