In 2017, Ted Richards joined the team at Six Park in Hub Southern Cross as their Director of Business Development. We spoke to him about his career progression; Six Park’s future growth; and his podcast, The Richards Report.
When Ted Richards was 17, his Dad gifted him a book on investment – ‘One Up on Wall St’ by Peter Lynch.
Having just been drafted into the AFL, he had his first significant income and wanted to research how to get the most out of his funds. This sparked an interest, leading Ted to study a Bachelor of Commerce and complete a Masters of Applied Finance, all while playing AFL.
He moved part-time into the finance world, working in equity sales and research analysis, before joining the Six Park team in the role of Director of Business Development.
Ted had a strong interest in equity analysis companies and the analytical side of the finance and investment industry.
A mutual acquaintance introduced him to one of the founders of Six Park to discuss their shared passion for investment. As robo-advice is still in its infancy in Australia, Six Park is a leader in the field.
“We talked about Six Park’s investment philosophy and business model, and the more I thought about it, the more I knew Australia needed it in the market.”
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The Richards Report
Ted has been releasing his regular podcast, the Richards Report, for the last 9 months.
He interviews a range of people, talking about life, finance, investments, and sometimes footy. With interviewees ranging from footballer Chris Judd to entrepreneur Susan Oliver, Ted has used his diverse networks to create educate people and offer insight on what’s going on in the industry.
“The catalyst for my starting the Richards Report was the fact there’s a studio here in Hub with the potential to be used – why not utilise it?”
Sponsored by Six Park, The Richards Report is trying to balance a mixture of speaking with industry gurus that can teach listeners about the market, as well as talking to some of Ted’s friends of note about what they’re doing with their money.
“Lots of the people I’ve interviewed have made mistakes in their investments but the most important part of that is learning along the way.”
How is Six Park growing?
As a business, Six Park initially focussed on a B2C model with quite a few clients coming from within Hub. With that section of the business now running sustainably and smoothly, Six Park has now focussed on the next phase of the business – B2B.
Six Park are partnering up with institutions that want to utilise their Robo-investment technology to offer it to their clients, helping other businesses attract and engage those they may previously have had to turn away.
Six Park helps individuals with low-cost professional investment advice, conducting client risk assessment online, and investing in the market according to these risk profiles. Their clients have globally diversified portfolios over 7 asset classes, with investments overseen by Six Park’s own investment committee. Last calendar year, Six Park’s growth portfolio had a return performance of 11.2%.
Six Park has an advantage of being able to offer diversified global investments.
“On a $10k investment, our total fees are $50 a year. Many businesses know they can’t compete with that, so are looking to instead cobrand with Six Park.”
In the last month, Six Park have grown their team with three new members. The business and industry are growing and evolving, with plans of rolling out new products in the future.
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What do you enjoy most about Hub?
Having come from a full time outdoors job playing football, Ted knew full-time office hours would be an adjustment – one made easier with the strong community inside Hub Southern Cross.
“What I tell people that I love about working at Hub is that there’s an energy you can feed off. Everyone’s motivated and you can feed off that intensity, which I really enjoy. We’re not a huge team at Six Park, but we’re part of something bigger here.”
When Ted started working on his own podcast, he collaborated with fellow Hub member Christina Canters, who creates her own podcast – ‘Stand Out and Get Noticed’.
“I’m constantly asking her questions on how I can improve my podcast because I’ve got that expertise available in the same building.“
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The next guest on The Richards Report podcast is Ted Richards’ former mentor John Sevior, who manages over 6 billion dollars in investments, and has endless insights to share with listeners. Make sure you subscribe to The Richards Report here, and follow Six Park on their business growth. Should you wish to know more about Six Park you can reach Ted Richards at ted@sixpark.com.au.
If you’re a sole trader or part of a growing team, Hub Australia has premium workspaces in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, with more coming. Enquire today to book your tour.
