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While scoring his way to success with the Manly Sea Eagles, Tom “Turbo” Trbojevic is also tackling a new passion as an asset finance broker. We caught up with him to find out more.
The new partner at iFin Capital Group has been with the brokerage team as of 2019 and continues to master the balance between life as a world-class athlete and as a part-time broking industry professional.
He spoke on The Adviser’s New Broker podcast to give us an insight into his career progress and how he came into his position.
When and why did you become a broker?
I started back in late 2019. iFin Capital sponsors a junior club I played for, Mona Vale Raiders…
We got to talking along with Josh [Wheeler, principal of IFin Capital] and… Nathan [Hogan, principal of iFin Capital] [who] said what we do at iFin Capital and it aligned with what I was doing at university [a bachelor of commerce, with a major in finance].
I really enjoy the flexibility of it [broking]. I play footy first, but this is something that I like to do on the side, learn about, and build towards.
What attracted you to iFin Capital?
Obviously they’re very good at what they do. They’re experts in the industry and for me, I was looking for something different. University’s good, but I feel like you need that real-life scenario to really take you on that next step.
I guess they came to me at the right time and I took the leap then and have really enjoyed working with them over the past couple of years. I look forward to where that relationship builds.
What was the first asset finance deal you wrote?
It was a forklift deal. It was definitely a proud moment.
Nathan and Josh helped through the way, but it was just awesome learning off them and taking it out into the real-world clients and helping them access what they need.
Did your commerce degree prepare you for broking?
The degree is very generic. You learn about financial elements, but you’re learning about it as an accountant. As a broker, you’re diving into it more in depth… but also communication, talking to clients… you don’t learn about that at uni. It’s so important how you build rapport with clients… so you can go on a long-term partnership with your clients…
I went through training programs with Nathan and Josh, learning the ropes and transferring my university skills into the industry. And that was really good. And as it went on, I did the Cert IV in financial services at CAFBA, which was really good to just provide more detail on the industry and learn more.
If you’re asking me, I’d say, do the courses, learn the stuff and then that helps you when you go out to talk to [clients].
You’re a professional athlete and a broker. How do you find the time to do it all?
Believe it or not, playing professional sport doesn’t actually take too much of your time. Obviously, when you’re on, you’re on. But during the season you’ve got a lot of time off and a lot of downtime, it is good to take your mind off and do other things.
You’ve actually got more time than you think, so don’t hold me too high up there.
When you look at your career as a league player and your career now as a finance broker, are there any transferable skills between the two?
Definitely, they’re both team based. We work in a team at iFin Capital, at Manly [Sea Eagles] as well, but also when you meet clients, you want to be involved in their team. You want to achieve the best outcome for them, which is very similar to what we do at Manly [Sea Eagles].
Nothing gets done without effective communication, so transferring that is something that definitely helped.
What challenges have you faced starting a new profession?
I remember early on going to client meetings and not really saying too much because I didn’t know what to say. I wish I knew more about some of the big trucks and the mining stuff they have [when I first started]... it still amazes me some of the stuff they can do with all that mining equipment.
[Asset finance] is a niche market, not many people know too much about it… But you need to know what that equipment’s going to be used for. So, you’ve got to know your stuff.
Getting over that barrier definitely helped me.
I think in the market today, interest rates are a big challenge, but there are also opportunities for us to help clients restructure their financials and help them achieve better outcomes.
What do you like most about being an asset finance broker?
I think helping clients reach their goals, achieve what they want to achieve and just be along the journey with them.
A lot of the people out there love their businesses and just want it to do well. Being on that journey with them is pretty special to see.
I look forward to hopefully doing a lot more in the future.
You can find out more about Tom Trbojevic and how he’s navigated the asset finance space in The Adviser’s New Broker podcast.
Tune in to the episode with Tom, New Broker: Why Tom “Turbo” Trbojevic became a broker, below:
[Related: New Broker: Why Tom ‘Turbo’ Trbojevic became a broker]
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