He started his financial services career at National Employers Life Assurance. After a tedious first year spent filling in pension record cards, he trained as a broker consultant.

He says:

“Back then in 1979, the trade really was taking brokers out for coffee or lunch and chatting about football and cricket.”

After 12 years at NEL, Calvert thought it was time to move on so decided to try his hand on the other side of the fence and joined Dawnworth Financial Services as an IFA.

“In one week of being an IFA, I learnt more about what life offices and product providers should be doing in terms of building relationships with IFAs.

“After 12 years with a product provider, you become quite blinkered and see it from a completely different angle. Even today, I think that huge numbers of providers simply have not got a clue what an IFA does on a day-to-day basis.”

He followed this with a move to the Zurich Life, where he spent nine years as national accounts manager but it was his next move, to Permanent Insurance, then owned by Equitable Life, which sparked his interest in the internet.

“Permanent was way ahead of the curve when it came to using the internet and engaging with IFAs. Our quotes’ tool had been written a certain way that meant we could give it to an IFA and they could plug it into their website. They could change the colours and brand it a certain way.”

IFAs were generating business through their website without even speaking to clients and Calvert says this is when he first realised the impact the internet could have on businesses.

Well (a bit naughty) that was taken from a 2009 Money Marketing article but it shows that Philip is a man with an eye to the main chance and I look forward to hearing him wowing us with the last word in technological innovation next Tuesday.

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