Zohul Malikzada is passionate about helping women understand their finances and that is why she made a promise to never turn down clients for not having enough disposable income.
After around 10 years working in banking, Malikzada joined the St James’s Place academy in 2019 before setting up Malikzada Financial Planning.
Her business primarily advises women and she has ambitions to grow her firm by employing other female advisers.
Malikzada spoke to FT Adviser’s Coffee Corner series about her journey so far.
What made you decide to enter the world of financial advice?
Malikzada said it was the birth of her first child that spurred her to consider financial advice.
She said: “As much as I liked working in the financial industry, it was a different environment, and I didn't feel it was family friendly.”
She was told about the St James’s Place academy by an ex-colleague. When she finished her training she had plans to join an established firm but when this fell through she decided to give it a go on her own.
“I thought about finding someone else when I said ‘no, let me give it a go on my own’.
“I didn't have a client bank and I didn't have a big network to make my business successful so there was always that big risk but I thought, let me try this.
“I always loved the idea of being my own boss and setting my own rules and not having to feel guilty every time I needed to take a day off because my kid was ill.”
Soon after she set up Malikzada Financial Planning the Covid-19 pandemic hit, but she said this gave her the chance to grow slowly, at first meeting clients online.
Why did you choose to focus on clients who are women?
Malikzada specialises in advising women and now has around 100 clients after gradual growth over the past five years.
“I do get a lot of referrals from my existing clients, best friends, mums, sisters, so I have been growing my business slowly through referrals,” she said. “I don't know when it turned to 100 but it was just gradual.”
Malikzada is working to get her chartered qualifications and she said once she has done this she has plans to bring on another woman, who will be trained up as an adviser.
She said: “The plan is that in next five years, I want to have a multi-adviser practice with at least four to five ladies working for me, doing what I'm doing and seeing more clients.”
Though Malikzada does have some male clients, she said around 80 per cent are women.
She added: “I do have male clients, of course, because it's natural that when you're advising people have partners and it makes sense to advise a household. But I don't go out there looking for male clients, my business is primarily advising women.”
What are the issues women face when it comes to finances compared with men?
“With retirement planning, it is a journey, the earlier you start, the easier it is, but the later you leave it, the steeper the hill gets.”
