My first month at Serenity – Jordan Reid


Category: Life Planning & serenity news & Team Serenity

I can’t believe where the time has gone since I joined Serenity just over a month ago.

Even before I joined, Serenity were very well organised helping me integrate within the team. I had all the usual technology (laptop, monitor, etc) well ahead of my start date. Interestingly, Serenity partner with a firm called Klyk, who provide sustainable technology helping to reduce E-waste and carbon emissions. This already made me realise what a great firm Serenity is to work for and how they hold their ethical values in such esteem.

The team all introduced themselves and gave me a really warm welcome. They spent time to get to know me, offering support and reassurance that they were always on hand to help.

If you think back to when you started in a new job, you’ll remember the nerves and apprehension of meeting a new team. But they are all lovely people that made me feel so welcome.

The way in which Serenity works is unlike most other companies I’ve ever come across, and so it’s essential to understand the systems and processes as soon as possible. A lot of my time was spent training and understanding the joined-up software that Serenity has and how it helps us to maximise efficiencies. For example, the client portal to share documents, the introduction of signing documents online, internal communications such a slack, and the messenger facility within Google. All of these things help both communication with clients and the team.

One of the first interactions I had was an invitation to the investment committee meeting and also spending some time with the various investment partners. Serenity recognises the challenges faced by society and our planet. When it comes to ESG and impact investing, the passion with Serenity is evident. They want every investment to have a positive impact that can bring about meaningful change. For me, this is really important as it aligns to my own values and beliefs.

Of course, being a regulated firm, there are many requirements and standards that both Serenity and I must meet. We spent time going through the training, taking tests and understanding the different ways in which the firm works. This was well beyond any box ticking exercise I could have possibly imagined, and to me, this illustrated that Serenity do not just meet the standards, they aspire to exceed them on all counts.

Some of the most enjoyable moments I’ve spent over the past month or so have been meeting some of the client families that I will be directly involved in working alongside. I’ve also had the wonderful experience of observing both Jeremy and Ian, two of our senior financial planners, working with their clients. What I’ve come to realise is that Serenity is very much about the person and not the purse in helping clients to live their best lives possible.

On reflection, I perhaps underestimated the amount of progress I’ve made in those first four weeks. It was important to understand the business, the people and most importantly the client families that I will be involved with.

When you start most new jobs, there’s this change cycle where you start to feel anxiety, concern or fear. However, with my first month at Serenity, I can confidently say that every morning I look forward to what the day is going to bring and how much I can learn.

The time has flown by and I am looking forward to building on my positive start in the months and years ahead.

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