For many advisers, a career in financial services is carefully planned from the outset. For Acuma's Adrian Rowles, it was something he discovered through frustration.
Now based in Dubai after spending 15 years building a client base in Japan, Rowles has carved out a career combining traditional financial advice with institutional-style investment thinking. But despite his success overseas, he remains clear on one thing: human judgement still matters.
“I had a financial adviser myself years ago,” he says. “After several months of working with him, I just felt like I could do a better job. I was actively involved in the markets, I had a passion for trading, and I felt the adviser wasn’t.”
At the time, Rowles was working in a distribution company in the UK. Like many people, he wanted to build wealth and improve his financial future, but his dissatisfaction with the advice he was receiving pushed him towards the industry.
His break came when he was approached by an international advisory firm and offered the chance to move to Japan.
“I had never heard of the company when they called me,” he says. “But I thought if it didn’t work out, I was smart enough to find something else. In the end, I was very impressed with how professional the business was.”
That decision would define the next chapter of his life.
Building a career in Japan
Rowles spent 15 years in Tokyo, where he built and managed a sizeable client base. Today, although he is based in Dubai, he still oversees his Japanese clients remotely.
“Most of my work in Japan is now done over Zoom,” he says. “Covid demonstrated that you don’t have to be in the same room to be effective. As long as you have face-to-face contact, you can still build strong relationships.”
His ties to Japan run deeper than just business. His wife is Japanese, and he says the country remains central to both his professional and personal life.
However, around two-and-a-half years ago, he decided to relocate to Dubai.
“I thought about the tax situation, the weather, and just wanted a change,” he says. “I’m still managing Japan, but now I’m also building an additional team here in Dubai.”
An institutional mindset
One of the things that Rowles believes differentiates him from many advisers is the way he approaches investment opportunities.
While many advisers rely on traditional portfolio construction methods, he says his own thinking has been shaped by training from former institutional traders, including individuals from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
“I was mentored by former traders from Goldman Sachs and by the managing director of the Bank of America options trading floor in New York,” he says. “They introduced me to institutional risk management and portfolio construction frameworks.”
That experience, he says, has changed the way he views investment opportunities for clients.
“Once I understand a client’s risk profile and objectives, I’m looking at opportunities through an institutional lens,” he says. “That gives me additional insight into hidden risks and potential upside that may be missed if you only use the traditional adviser framework.”
He describes his approach as overlaying institutional thinking onto individual portfolios.
“I can’t do everything the institutions do because compliance won’t allow it, but I can bring elements of that thinking into client portfolios. That’s what clients value.”
The frustration of compliance
Although Rowles says compliance is necessary, he admits it can sometimes be frustrating.
“There are things I do with my own money that I’d love to be able to do for clients, but I’m not allowed to,” he says.
One example is options trading.
“Options are a very good way to hedge risk, and banks use them all the time,” he says. “But compliance often sees them as risky. The reality is that many advisers simply aren’t trained properly on how to use them.”
Despite this, Rowles has no desire to leave the firm structure and go it alone.
“People have asked me many times if I’d ever set up on my own, and some clients have even said they would come with me,” he says. “But I’m not interested in taking on the burden of compliance myself.”
Instead, he prefers to focus on the parts of the job he enjoys most.
“I want to concentrate on investment advice and helping people understand markets and opportunities. That’s what I enjoy.”
Dubai life
After spending so many years in Japan, Rowles says adapting to Dubai has been an adjustment.
“Japan has all the seasons. Dubai has one season,” he jokes.
He describes the city as fast-moving and ambitious, although not without its quirks.
“There can be a bit of fakeness here at times,” he says. “And people tend to stay within their own networks rather than mixing across different groups.”
Still, he says the benefits are hard to ignore.
“The heat gets extreme in the summer, but I’m definitely not complaining about paying less tax.”
Outside of work, Rowles is heavily involved in martial arts and combat sports, something he says has been part of his life for years.
He has trained in boxing, Taekwondo and kung fu, and even recalls beating an Olympic gold medallist in Taekwondo during a competition near Miami in his twenties.
“I think everyone should do something,” he says. “It gives you confidence and makes you feel safer in your environment.”
AI is a tool, not a replacement
Like many advisers, Rowles is increasingly using AI in his business. However, he believes the industry is making a mistake if it sees the technology as a replacement for advisers.
“I’m building systems using AI in my own business,” he says. “But I’m using it as a tool, not as a replacement for human judgement.”
He says AI is particularly useful for repetitive tasks, automation and freeing up time for advisers to focus on client relationships and portfolio management.
“Anything repetitive or mundane, AI is great for,” he says. “It gives me more time to focus on where I can add value.”
However, he warns that people are putting too much trust in it when it comes to making financial decisions.
“If you ask AI what stock to buy, it’s just going to give you whatever is trending on the internet,” he says. “That’s not how professional investing works.”
He believes the technology still needs a human “in the loop”.
“AI hallucinates, it makes mistakes, and it can lead people in the wrong direction,” he says. “The best solution is to use AI alongside an adviser who understands the markets and understands how to interpret the information.”
For Rowles, the future of advice is not about replacing humans with technology, but combining the best of both worlds.
“AI is not a replacement,” he says. “It’s a multiplier. If you have a weak understanding of investing, AI can make the problem worse. But if you have strong foundations, it can make you better.”
This interview was taken from our sister title International Adviser's new Meet the Advisers series.
Click here to view the video. To find out more about Adrian click here.
