Sam Sloma AFPS, whose teams included Woking, Wimbledon and Dagenham and Redbridge, has gained authorisation for Engage Financial Services.
Mr Sloma told FP Today he does have a “small niche on sportsmen” and works with a number of agents and sports professionals, lawyers accountants and so on. But he emphasised this is not his absolute focus.
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Engage will charge a fixed annual fee, with no additions, based on a tiered structure.
Former defender/midfielder Mr Sloma left school at 16 to pursue a professional football career, which included spells at Wealdstone, Grays Athletic and Aylesbury United.
But he then retired at 26, deciding it was time to get married, start a family and pursue a new vocation – which became Financial Planning. He became Chartered last year.
Mr Sloma, the managing director, is starting with a soft launch and is aiming to be fully up and running within the next 6 to 8 weeks.
Asked what his ambitions are for the firm, he said: “Ultimately we need to walk before we can run, so let’s see how the business develops over the coming year and we can revisit that question. Initially we want to build a business that we are proud of, delivers excellent financial plans and peace of mind to clients.
“We work with young professional clients in the main. We have a number of professional sports people and a number of business owners. I feel we’re well placed in that sub niche to be able to build long term relationships with clients and help them take a longer term view on their plan.”
He has thought about building a large, scalable finance business but said Engage will be a “lifestyle practice, which allows me to enjoy my life whilst preaching the same to clients”.
Asked what lessons from sport he has brought into his career as a Financial Planner, he said: “I don’t know whether it has given me a ‘fresh’ perspective. In professional sport, time waits for no one and you often see people on the way up and on the way down. A key is to treat people the same whichever way they’re heading.
“The other influence I have from my sporting background is two key points, one is to keep it simple, the other is to get into good habits. I try to use these simple principles in everything I do.”
Pleased to say I've received authorisation from @TheFCA & Engage FS is now live! Thank you to everyone for their help to date. Lets crack on
— Sam Sloma (@slomeo) June 12, 2017