Meet Leti of OnPoint Advice
Letisha Tan is a financial consultant aiming to bring financial freedom to women of colour. Her boutique advisory and brokerage firm On Point Advice specialises in finance, insurance and investments.
On Point Advice is a project in motion to provide women with the support they may struggle to gain from mainstream financial advisors. Leti’s business is based in Newmarket and her website has just been launched!
Leti and her team at Manzana HQ
You say that financial education has been embedded in your family. What's the background to that?
Yes, growing up my mum was a financial adviser and I was exposed to well-known financial education icons like Robert and Kim Kiyosaki, Bob Procter and concepts like the science of money as she was running her agency in Malaysia. A lot of it had to do with mindset and learning about things they don't teach you in school. I guess in that aspect, I was exposed earlier on as a teenager and knew I wanted to head in that direction. They came from poor families after the war and it was not easy for an Asian woman of her era to step outside of cultural norms, but it was possible with the support from my Dad and the community to make an impact.
How did you decide you wanted to work for yourself?
I came to NZ to further my studies at Victoria University of Wellington. After University, I started my career in the Big 4 accounting firms, recruitment and banks. It was within these roles I had realised that I wanted to carve my own path. I had placed many skilled migrants before and I've seen a lot of them come to NZ to build a lot of things up out of nothing. It doesn't just have to be migrants but just many different types of business, right?
The backbone of New Zealand's economy is built on small to medium sized businesses. But, what they don't understand is that they need to know how to protect themselves and navigate through risks better. So, in order to better protect themselves and feel overall more secure in order to thrive, they need to have some sort of guidance. I mean, if you have questions about your taxes, you go to your accountant. Likewise, if you have questions about growing and protecting your money, this is where you go to a financial adviser. And that's where we offer understanding and guidance.
Knowing what I had known, I could see that people who got the right support and information bounced back faster and thrived in the face of adversity having proper financial advice. Furthermore, advised New Zealanders are better across the board in terms of health, wealth and well-being.
And what brought you to Manzana?
It was during the lockdown, I was scrolling through social media and came across Dil Khosa's profile and Manzana. I thought it was exactly the type of space that I was looking for.
One thing that I would like to share as well, is that I have a condition called Tourette Syndrome which I had only found out as an adult. So I have some minor tics and movements. Having a space that celebrates diversity and creativity was very important for me.
I have been on the Prime TV series "Living with Tourettes", raising TS awareness. So don't be surprised if I come across as familiar!
I must say, it is not easy being an entrepreneur to create new ideas and projects. It can be a lonely game and a lot of us are far from our home lands. I think this is what is in our blood! The thirst to make things better and freedom! Women offer so much in this arena but it does not get to thrive due to the extreme hurdles we have to face. The similarity faced by us women of colour who are entrepreneurs offer a unique challenge as often we are tied to our community.
Having a safe space especially for women and their cultural origin for solidarity where ideas can be exchanged, shared, and nurtured with a collaborative community is really a positive step!
What does On Point stand for?
So the company that I founded since 2014 is called On Point Financial Advice. We are a team of advisers that specialises in Kiwisaver and all Insurances. Our mission is to help and support aspiring New Zealanders, in particular skilled migrants, businesses and their families who have planted their roots here in New Zealand. Many women of colour fall under this bracket as there is a huge difference in how finances are being handled within families between the East and West. So a lot of this is not being talked about especially in New Zealand.
Coming from a multicultural background, I understand the cultural differences women of colour and their families have to navigate, especially when dealing with the topic of money and finances in the household. Our goal is so that migrant families and businesses can grow, thrive, feel secure, happy, and ultimately prosper in this land for themselves and the future generations!
We are a one stop hub where we would look after all your insurances and Kiwisaver, so that your time is better spent on what you are good at. Our advisers are also multi-lingual. On top of that we only work with market leading providers that provide quality investments and products. Having proper financial advice means when the unexpected happens, you know the plan will work. We also try to make this easy for our clients to reach out to us by using technology and different platforms to stream line processes and for our clients to reach out to us. For example, we are working on a portal where our clients can just complete their claim details and as their adviser, we work with their insurance provider.
I would like to grow On Point to hopefully be nationwide, where we are able to even service rural families. I would also love to be able to get us to win an award in the next couple of years!
What are your hobbies?
I love the sea and on a good day, I like to take my boat out with the team for some sun and if weather permits, a good catch! I also enjoy travelling and am a huge foodie. One of my favourite places to eat is Love Asia, a delicious Vietnamese place out in Botany.
