Rob Macdonald
Consultant & Coach
Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Professional, Qualified Coach and Counsellor
South Africa
I am a consultant and coach who works primarily with individuals and teams in financial planning and investment management businesses. I also delivers behavioural coaching programmes to financial professionals and is passionate about encouraging them to work with a Coaching Way of Being.
Over the past 25 years, I’ve has held several senior executive positions in the investment industry and have worked as an independent coach and consultant focusing on strategic and organisational development issues. I am a co-organiser of the annual Humans Under Management South Africa conference which focuses on the human side of financial advice, and an Editorial Adviser to Blue Chip journal, the official publication of the Financial Planning Institute (FPI) in South Africa. In 2023 I was awarded the Harry Brews Award by the FPI in recognition of my contribution to the financial planning profession in South Africa.
Before joining the financial services industry I taught at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, where I was also Director of the MBA Programme. I have a MPhil in Management Studies from Oxford University, I am a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Professional and a qualified coach and counsellor. I have written and spoken widely on a range of topics related to leadership, coaching, behavioural finance, investments, practice management and financial planning. I am author of The 7 Pillars of Financial Health – Partnering with a Professional to Thrive; and have co-authored two other books: Rethinking Leadership; and Frontiers in Financial Psychology.
Content by Rob Macdonald
POWER Planning, A Coaching Way of Being, Consumer Outcome 5 Confidence
Confidence is defined as “a feeling of trust and firm belief in yourself or others”. Given that trust is the currency of financial planning, it is no surprise that Confidence is critical to the success of a consumer-focused outcomes approach to financial planning.
POWER Planning, A Coaching Way of Being, Consumer Outcome 4 Control
Research indicates that a client’s financial health does not depend on income level, asset size, education, age, or geographic location. The most important determinant of financial health is the extent to which a person feels in Control of their financial life.
POWER Planning, A Coaching Way of Being, Consumer Outcome 3 Choice
“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities”. Professor Albus Dumbledore’s advice to a young Harry Potter captures the reality that clients are a product of their choices good and bad.
POWER Planning, A Coaching Way of Being Consumer Outcome 2 Connection
Personal financial planning can be seen by clients as a technical profession, involving numbers and products. People often don’t get financial advice for fear of what the numbers will show, or because they think they are just going to be ‘sold’ a product, one they are not sure they really need.
POWER Planning, A Coaching Way of Being, Consumer Outcome 1 Clarity
Money is a means to an end; it enables or disables how we live our lives. So before talking about money, personal finance professionals have the challenge of helping clients think about what they want from their life.
POWER Planning, A Coaching Way of Being, 5 Consumer Outcomes
The five Consumer Outcomes POWER Planning seeks to deliver are: Clarity, Connection, Choice, Control and Confidence. Underpinning the achievement of these outcomes is a consumer-focused approach to financial planning.
