Angela Faherty talks to protection adviser Diane Saunders about the rapid growth of her business, which focuses on financial advice for women
'I did not ever think I would be a financial adviser,' says Diane Saunders, principal of Diane Saunders Financial Adviser. 'I got married at 18, intended on having four daughters by the time I was 25 and living with my husband forever. But nothing ever stays still for too long,' she says.
After her husband fell ill when she was 25, Saunders realised her plans had to change and she found herself looking for work to bring in an income. 'My husband had one collapsed lung then another collapsed lung, and as he was working for himself and had no other form of income, I had to go to work. I had expected to be a mother and I really did not know what to do,' she says.
Despite her initial hesitation, Saunders has proved to be a successful businesswoman and entrepreneur. After holding a number of roles in the insurance industry, she set up her own company, Diane Saunders Financial Adviser, from her bedroom in Leeds in 1991 ' a decision prompted by a personal experience in her life.
'I had been living with an ex-partner for five years and we had bought a farm together and built a life together and when we split, I realised I had done a classic piece of financial strategy by having all my finances and my emotions tied up in the same place. I know that while he did not do anything in that relationship to deliberately disadvantage me, I also know that when it came to the separation I was financially disadvantaged,' she says.
Saunders realised the mistake she had made and decided she wanted to offer help to other women by setting up a company that would help them to separate their financial life from their emotional life.
'I thought if I could help to set up women so that both they and their partner were financially strong, if the relationship did fail, then at least the financial planning was secure,' she says.
Today, the company goes from strength to strength. It has around 2,000 clients ' both male and female ' on its books, but maintains its focus on advising women. ' I do a lot of financial counselling at a time when women are thinking of splitting from their partners. Men do come to me as well and also have a lot of problems, but it is easier for me to sympathise with a woman because I am a woman,' she says.
'You cannot split finances from emotion, it is impossible,' she continues. 'I do not know anybody that has made a financial decision that has not had an emotional basis. Why would somebody insure his or her life? Only because they don't want the devastation that would exist if they died having not paid off the mortgage or provided for their family.
'I meet clients at a time of change,' she continues. 'They may be splitting up from their partner and feel extremely vulnerable, or they might be buying a house and are feeling the pressure of such an enormous responsibility. It is all emotional stuff.'
Saunders believes there are a number of problems that need addressing in the industry, and feels the Government could do more to promote the need for protection.
'The level of service in the market is dreadful. We spend at least four hours every day hanging on to the end of a telephone being directed by an automated service to select certain options. There are not enough resources and the level of knowledge is poor,' she says.
'If the Government spent as much money advertising protection as it did in1988 advertising personal pensions, we could move a bit towards addressing people's needs. Instead of standing on the sidelines being negative and quite rightly pointing out when things are wrong, the Governement also has a duty to say when they are right,' she says.
Saunders is also a big supporter of income protection and feels more could be done by advisers to help increase sales figures. However, she acknowledges the difficulties in trying to get consumers to consider taking out a plan, when many regard the lump sum pay out offered by critical illness plans a more attractive proposition.
'Critical illness cover will pay off the mortgage and that is fine, but what do you live on then? What do you use to heat the house that you have bought? People do not look ahead. It is very difficult to imagine being ill and to consider how it would impact on your life. You cannot know what you do not know, and if you have always been fit and well why would you not always be fit and well? I cannot imagine being 80, but I know I am going to get there eventually.'
With her business continuing to grow and the recent appointment of her daughter to the firm as a mortgage adviser, Saunders' business looks set for continued success.
'I want to work until I am 75,' she says. 'My work gives me a buzz and I need the mental stimulus. I am very fortunate that a lot of my clients are my friends, but it's also great meeting new people.
'I am privileged and healthy and live in comfortable circumstances, what more do I want? This is the life I have designed for myself. When you get to 55 years old you should have got some of what you wanted out of your life,' she says.
