Robert Patrick Barker CFP® (called Patrick).
Patrick’s first “job” was packing shopping at Pick n’ Pay while on school holidays. After matriculating, he sold Kirby vacuum cleaners, worked on the Greyville tote and waitered while studying at University. In his final year of study, he started a carpet and window cleaning business called CAP Clean. He sold this in 1993 and joined Christies Airconditioning until 1995. He has worked in the investment and financial planning industry since 1995 starting with Liberty Life. He also initiated and founded Leading Edge Properties (Pty) Ltd in 1993. In 2002 he initiated and co-founded Redwood Unlimited Financial Services (Pty)Ltd. He sold his shares in May 2008 and started the School of Unconditional Love – SOUL – in Jan 2009 focusing on working with corporates and individuals to grow self-awareness and help with change management. Missing the dynamics of the investment industry, he was then contracted to Cannon Asset Managers in May 2011 as a portfolio manager. He resigned from Cannon in July 2015 and founded Wealth Tap (Pty) Ltd which is a wealth management and financial planning advisory business.
Patrick has extensive personal experience in property having invested in a variety of residential and commercial properties. He has also traded and manages his own investment portfolios and has done so for 20 years.
Patrick has been a member of the Financial Planning Institute since 1997 and is a Certified Financial Planner CFP® qualified through the University of the Orange Free State. He also holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree with Legal Studies, Business Administration and Marketing as majors, and a Post Grad Diploma in Marketing Management.
Patrick sees himself as an adviser foremostly. Whilst that might seem obvious, he sees the distinction between advising and selling as important to highlight as advice requires saying what needs to be said at the risk of having to walk away from business or turning down business in the interests of the client. This is also why Patrick has chosen to be independent and not part of a corporate environment and to charge hourly fees for advice where required. For Patrick, the selling culture is driven by targets and can result in forced selling which is not in the best interests of the client. It must be a mutually beneficial relationship in which all parties win. Given this approach, the client knows that they are receiving balanced and objective advice founded on structurally stable and grounded principles.
Included in his role as an adviser, he coaches and educates his clients. He also continues to speak at conferences and on invite from organisations. He has been published in a number of articles in the financial journal published by LexisNexis. He has written thought leadership articles whilst at Cannon Asset Managers and with Wealth Tap which have been published in various on-line and printed publications. He has also appeared on CNBC Africa and on radio for interviews regarding his thought leadership ideas and articles. See link below for Patrick’s Linkedin profile: