At the age of 17 Mark Giles finished his full time schooling and matriculated into all major Western Australian Universities. It came as no surprise when he commenced employment in the Finance Industry as his father had worked as a Cost Accountant for the past 30 years and his grandfather as a Cost Accountant for over 40 years. Initially Mark worked in Banking for 5 years where he was employed to perform duties such as Customer Service Officer, Head Teller, International Banking Officer and Branch Accountant. At the same time he commenced a Bachelor of Business degree at Curtin University.
At the age of 22 Mark started working in Superannuation, Insurance and Investment. At 23 years of age he successfully obtained his Proper Authority allowing him to give advice on securities. From that point on he steadily built his clientele, receiving many productivity awards and quality assurance awards. He was also a regular member of the ‘League of Honour’ – which recognised the top 10 ranked advisers in Australia. At the age of 25 he became the Director of Selig Holdings Pty Ltd, which today trades as Complete Financial Solutions.
By the time he was 34 years old he had completed his Diploma in Financial Planning through Deakin University in Melbourne. At the age of 35 Mark attained the highest professional status available to Financial Planners in the World (CFP – Certified Financial Planner). It was at this time that he bought an Accounting practice and obtained a Corporate Tax Agents Licence. He employed Accountants to assist with the running of this division within the business and after 3 years it had trebled in size.
Whilst launching this division within the business, Mark commenced further studies at the University of Western Sydney. His goal was to finish with a PhD in Financial Planning. This started with enrolling in a new course, being Masters in Commerce – Financial Planning. These studies are still in progress.
In 2009 at the age of 44, Mark completed a Financial Brokering course at AAMC and successfully obtained his Finance Brokering Licence. He then decided to form a Corporate Finance and Mortgage Brokering arm within the business and employed an ex Regional Manager from the Commonwealth Bank to head up this division.
In 2010 Mark’s eldest son Brent commenced employment in the practice. He is employed as a licensed Financial Planner to assist with the servicing of a growing clientele after spending some time employed at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia where he had obtained his Diploma in Financial Planning.
So today, Mark and the business that he started in 1987 have grown to be a genuine holistic Financial Services provider that has two generations from the Giles family working toward providing high quality financial advice.
Going forward Mark and Brent have a vision; “Whilst we are very proud of what the business represents today, there is more that can be achieved. Obviously the nurturing and development of the existing clientele remains a primary objective for us but we also see tremendous opportunity to provide genuine help and assistance to ‘the next generation’. Our vision is to assist our client’s sons, daughters, nephews and nieces at an early age.”
Brent is especially excited at the prospect of developing an academy for younger people where his skills and knowledge can help them at an early stage in their adult life. Having a father who has always been a successful Financial Planner has helped him both personally and professionally to fully comprehend the importance of a strong financial plan and knowledge base to work from. Brent says “My Dad has been very successful in helping many people to sort out their financial needs but many of those clients could have put his advice into action far earlier in their life, had they met him earlier…. Well, I believe that we have a chance of doing this for their children, hence my vision of a devoted academy for these younger prospective clients….”
The feeling today is that the business is about to enter an exciting new phase of its life cycle…
