Business Innovators Radio - Craig Murrin: Navigating the World of Financial Planning and International Entrepreneurship

Episode Date: December 1, 2023

In this episode of Vegas Business Spotlight, host Tim Knifton sits down with the brilliant financial advisor, Craig Murrin, to uncover the secrets behind his remarkable journey to success. With a global reach and wealth of experience in the financial planning sector, Craig brings a unique perspective to the table. Having worked with clients from different sectors and countries, he offers a level of expertise that sets him apart from the rest.Craig shares his early days in financial advising, where he worked with expats in the Middle East before moving to the United States in 2017. Despite facing initial challenges as a newcomer in the industry, Craig’s determination and thirst for knowledge propelled him forward. He emphasizes the importance of constantly learning and becoming an expert in your field, regardless of the industry you’re in.Being based in Las Vegas has its advantages for Craig’s business strategy. Besides the convenience of travel and its international appeal, Las Vegas is experiencing remarkable growth, making it an ideal hub for expanding his services and attracting new clients. Craig also highlights the tax benefits and favorable conditions for retirees in the city.Throughout the interview, Craig shares valuable insights into his unique value proposition for British individuals in America, offering guidance on navigating the complex world of UK pensions and ensuring they make informed financial decisions. He also discusses his involvement in giving back to the community, particularly his work with animal charities.If you’re looking for inspiration and expert advice on financial planning from a global perspective, this episode is a must-listen. Join Tim Knifton as he dives deep into Craig Murrin’s journey, offering valuable lessons and practical tips for entrepreneurs and individuals alike. Discover how Craig’s expertise and passion have helped countless clients achieve financial success and pave their way to a secure future.About Craig Murrin:Craig Murrin is a financial advisor with extensive global experience in the financial planning sector. Originally from the UK, he has worked in commercial insurance and financial planning in the Middle East before settling in the US. Craig specializes in helping Brits in America with their financial planning, particularly in understanding and managing their UK financial footprint. He is also passionate about giving back to the community, particularly through his work with animal charities. Craig is known for his mantra of continual learning and his dedication to building meaningful relationships through networking with a strong focus on giving back. He is also a wine enthusiast with a preference for wines from Paso Robles and Temecula.https://www.skyboundwealthusa.com/About The Show Sponsor:“Vegas Business Spotlight” podcast is proudly sponsored by RSVP Las Vegas, your premier direct mail postcard service in the heart of Las Vegas. With a commitment to delivering outstanding results and effective marketing solutions, RSVP Las Vegas specializes in helping businesses connect with their target audience through direct mail.Visit their website at RSVPLasVegas.com to explore the range of direct mail services they offer. From designing eye-catching postcards to precisely targeting your desired audience, RSVP Las Vegas has your direct mail marketing needs covered. Their team of experts is dedicated to helping your business make a lasting impression and drive results.Whether you’re launching a new marketing campaign, promoting a special offer, or aiming to boost brand awareness, RSVP Las Vegas is your trusted partner in direct mail marketing success. Contact them at [phone], and their knowledgeable team will be ready to assist you.Experience the power of effective direct mail marketing with RSVP Las Vegas. Trust their expertise and enjoy the benefits of reaching your audience directly. Visit their website or give them a call today to start your next successful marketing campaign with RSVP Las Vegas, your premier direct mail postcard service in Las Vegas.Vegas Business Spotlighthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/vegas-business-spotlight/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/craig-murrin-navigating-the-world-of-financial-planning-and-international-entrepreneurship

Welcome to Vegas Business Spotlight, the podcast that brings you the brightest minds and success stories from the bustling business scene in and around Las Vegas. Join us as we journey behind the neon lights and uncover the strategies, triumphs, and insights that shape the entrepreneurial landscape of the city of lights. From visionary startups to industry titans, get ready to be inspired by the stories of those who've turned dreams into reality on this iconic stage. And now, your host, Tim Nifton. Hello, and welcome to another episode of Vegas Business Spotlight, sponsored by RSVP Las Vegas. I'm Tim Nifton, your host, and I'm thrilled to have you here today with us as we continue our journey through the vibrant world of Las Vegas entrepreneurship. Before we dive into today's conversation, I want to extend a warm welcome to our featured guests, joining us to our future guests, joining us to our vibrant world. today is Craig Murren with Blackpoint Capital Partners.

We're honored to have him on the show today to share his experiences, insights and wisdom. He has gained over his remarkable journey to success. So without further ado, let's get right into it. Craig, welcome to Vegas Business Spotlight. We're delighted to have you here today. How are you doing? I'm really good, thanks, Tim. Thanks for having me.

And I'm looking forward to spending the next 20, 30 minutes with you. Fantastic. Well, let's jump right in. and start by hearing a bit about your journey and the incredible work you're doing here in Las Vegas. Okay. So I always like to start with a little elevator pitch or why Craig Murren? Why Craig Murray? That's the question on the end of everybody's lips. I have got a global reach and a global wealth of experience in the financial planning sector.

So to work with me, you're not just getting an advisor that has done a couple of exams and just sort of sits in an office here in the US on a daily basis. I have traveled the world. I've worked with multiple people in different sectors helping understand their financial footprint. So I've got a good bit of knowledge across the board of things that have gone wrong in the past and things that were good. And I think that brings a different level of expertise to the table when working with people and their financial plans. Yeah, that's great. That's amazing how you've worked internationally. I haven't heard that from any other financial advisors. So that brings a lot to the table. Yeah, can you tell me a little bit about your early days and getting started in financial advising? Sure. Yeah, I am originally from a place called Bristol in the UK. I left there in around 2000.

and whilst I was there, I'd worked for about 10 years in an insurance office dealing with commercial insurance, property, insurance, liability insurance and kind of high-level stuff. Went to work in the Middle East and started working with expats from a financial planning perspective, helping them understand their global financial footprint. So I was working in the Middle East for almost 10 years and then moved out to the US in 2017. Still doing the same thing. I'm not very good at other things. I'm very good at working with people and putting them kind of,

understand what they can and can't do and make sure they put the right foot forward. But yeah, moved here in 2017 with my wife, her family, have been in Vegas since 98, so it was an easy setup. And now I'm here. Sure. Were there any challenges when you started out? As with everything, I think as soon as you're starting in any industry, it's the fact you're new. Nobody's going to necessarily come to you and ask for advice when you're brand new in an industry.

the problems or what I did was just learn, get learning, get educating, understand everything that I need to know so that I've got all the answers. So I might be new in the business when I was 20 years ago, but I knew I knew all the answers correctly so that when people ask questions, I knew what I was talking about. And that's just grown. My confidence has grown as I've grown to the point I am today. Wow, that's great.

Yeah, I really like how you mentioned, just learn everything about your industry when you're starting. That is definitely wonderful advice for somebody new and starting out. Yeah, we're all young, right? We're all new in any industry we do. We're all going to be the first at it at some point. So we can't hold that against somebody. There's no point in, oh, I don't want to work with that individual because they're new.

That's not fair. If they don't know what they're talking about, great, good reason not to work with someone. So anything you do, just learn it, learn it, learn it so that there's no reason why people can work. Absolutely. So Las Vegas is known for its vibrant and unique business land. landscape, you know, the Raiders came into town, the A's are coming into town, F1 racing's coming into town, we're getting the Super Bowl. So how is being based in Las Vegas influence your business strategy and decisions? I can work with anybody across the U.S. and actually globally. So for me,

it's being here in Las Vegas, it's great for travel. It's great because it is an international town. There's a lot of people that come through. So I can. with clients that maybe live over in different states that are coming through Vegas, so I can certainly get some face-to-face time with people instead of Zooms. But the pull of this city is getting bigger and bigger every single day. I mean, I moved here six years ago, and in the last six years, the growth of the valley has been massive. So I'm excited for the new businesses that are coming here,

because that will bring clientele for me, even though I don't necessarily need to be located in Vegas for any reason, but it's just, it seems to be the place in the US that's growing the most, if you ask me. Yeah, yeah. Were there any specific advantages? You mentioned travel in Las Vegas,

but what other specific advantages? Temperature, weather. I mean, I come from the UK where it's gray every day, Tim. So for me, blue sky is so important. Yeah. The tax benefits of being in Nevada are really quite good, well when you're looking at financial planning and you're looking to help people grow, you want to be in a tax-friendly state, I think, because that's where a lot of retirees will come,

and that's kind of my target market is helping people get to retirement. So Vegas is a great hub for you can travel anywhere in the world from here. Most big cities in the world will fly to Las Vegas. So if they fly to here, it means from here you can get to them. So I like it for that reason. Yeah, definitely. So what advice do you have for someone starting out as an entrepreneur? I think pick the industry you're going to choose to start a business in,

whatever that might be, whatever you're good at, whatever your skill sets at, find a gap in the market and then deliver your services for it. So certainly from a financial planning point of view, I think there's a gap for Brits in America, not understanding their British financial footprint. So for me, that's my kind of USP. That's what I look at and that's what I kind of target to try and be different to everyone else. And I think being an entrepreneur setting up a business,

you've got to try and find that element of your business that's going to be different to everyone else, and that's going to want to make people want to work with you. Yeah, definitely. Now, I know we've talked about you have a unique value for British in America or pretty much anywhere. Could you share a little bit more about that? Yeah, sure.

So the unique element from the Brits in America side of things is that if you're an American in America, you've got your financial plans in place. You might have a 401K, an IRA, Social Security. You might be putting some money into treasury bonds, eye bonds, things like that. But you sit down with your U.S. advisor and they understand it all. But what if you're a Brit and you've got a British pension that's sitting in pounds, back in a country you know nothing about? And you sit down with your advisor and they look at you and go,

I have no idea what you can and can't do with that. There's no idea what we can invest in. I don't even know what the currency exchange rate is right now. So what I can do is just highlight some key areas where you might be able to tweak your investment. You might be able to access some funds. You might be able to move the portfolio in the UK into something that's a little bit more tailored to you. So certainly from a UK pension point of view, the government pension in the UK. Here in the US, we get social security.

Are Brits entitled to their UK government pension whilst they're living here? Yes, of course they are. How do they get it? There's an app, there's an online application you can go through and telephone numbers you can ring. There's all sorts of access points online to find out this information. But if you don't know where to look, you don't know what to do. So me being a UK advisor in the US just brings that extra element of expertise to the people that don't know what they don't know. Yeah. Can you share a pivotal moment or lesson from your own journey that might inspire others?

A pivotal moment or, oh goodness, I should have prepared a little bit for this. I'm a big believer in everything happens for a reason, right? No matter if it's bad or good, everything happens and we'll get you to where you need to be if that's where you need to be. So lost my mom at a young age, which was a shame. And I think that, made me realize that no matter what happens, every day will keep coming and you've just got to rise above it and work through it. So no matter what life throws at you, keep going until tomorrow because you never know tomorrow might open another door that you go, goodness me, this is brilliant. Life is perfect now, although you might have just gone through something bad the day before. So that for me is just always be positive and always no matter what happens, it will lead to.

good. Wow, that's great. So building and sustaining a successful business requires adaptability. Can you tell us about a time you've had to pivot or make a major change in your business model? Certainly back in 2016, a product that we were offering to people that were residing in this country got pulled. We were no longer able to offer a product to people to move their UK pensions into an international vehicle. And so for two years, it really just stopped happening. So at that point, as an industry, we've got to look at what are we doing here? Why are we in America? Are we just a one-stop shop for advice, just being able to offer one product? Or are we a fully-fledged holistic financial planning service? And that's what we wanted to be. So it had to stop from being,

we're only offering one product to a, no, no, we're here for the long term. We're here for everything and we can help with everything. So it was a case of, all right, We can't do one thing. We can do 10. Wow, that's great. So Las Vegas is known for its diverse industries. Can you share some insights in how you've tapped into that diversity and your business success? Networking. Networking is the way forward.

No matter where you are, what country you're in, what city you're in, you need to have a network. And certainly when I first moved here, I knew six people and they were all Nicole's family. So I got out and started building my network, started introducing myself to people, getting to know people across the board, not in my sector, but in every sector. So I've got people in certain sales industry. I've got a network BNI, for example. I've got 38 people in my B&I group, including yourself, Tim, that I can reach out to as experts in any and every industry. So I think if you're starting out, get a network. get out and start introducing yourself to people and try and help them. Don't look at it to

help yourself, trying to help as many people around you as possible, selflessly, and I think you'll start to find your network will grow. Absolutely. As Dr. Ivan Meisner says, give, give, give, give, give. It's all about giving. Give us gain is the words I live by. I don't look to do anything for myself. I look to help as many people as possible, and you never know. In turn, those people might help. me. Absolutely. Have you found any surprising connections or celebrities as you've been going around networking? I've been introduced to a couple of, I say, celebrities, if you like, in my work at the NSPCA charity. But in my financial advising career, I haven't come across that many celebrities. Given the walks that they, or the,

people they walk with, I'd love to be introduced at some point, but I haven't yet. Many celebrities for sure, but I don't know what you would call a celebrity. I haven't come across David Beck and put it that way. All right. We'll put that on your bucket list, all right? That's my manifest. Let's get introduced to them. Perfect. So you mentioned networking's crucial for business growth. Can you hear some tips on building meaningful relationships? Go in with good intent, listen. I think listening out to what your networking colleagues are looking for and trying to actively seek introduction for them. If you've got a network of people that are all going out trying to find you leads and trying to find you introductions,

then it makes your life a lot easier. So I think if you're going in with the good intention of trying to help other people, you know, asking them straight away, how can I help you, Tim? How can I help so and so? How can I help so and so? And then listening out to when you hear people talking out in public, if you're at a restaurant, things like that, you can hear other people talking and you can hear if somebody's needing something. And I'm sure if somebody is in need of a good plumber or a good electrician and you've got one and you lean over and say, hey, I couldn't help but hear you say you needed someone, here's their card. I guarantee you that they will be appreciative of you passing the details. So it's just always be listening.

and always try and help people. Perfect. Perfect. So in the world of business, failures and setbacks are just part of the journey. Can you share a challenging moment in your career and how you overcame it? Well, as I said, about the pension aspects of not being able to sell a product. We just have to pivot and start selling and start advising in other ways. You can't just stop as soon as you get a brick wall in front of you. There's a way around it or a way over it.

You've just got to find that solution. And if that's pivoting to a different aspect of advice or a different product that you're offering people, then so be it. But people will always need guidance and help. So it's just trying to make sure that you're offering it as best you can. Absolutely. So as a business owner, I'm sure you have a vision for your future. What are your goals and aspirations for your business? I sort of got a one, a three, a five and a 10-year plan.

Year one is just kind of get everything ironed out, get everything correct, get all clients on the right path, I think, and then the three-year will be to multiply that. Five years, certainly, I've got a vision of an amount of money that I need to be managing in five years' time and certainly in 10-year's time as well. but it's just expanding my existing clients and helping them maximize their portfolios. And in turn, that will grow to more business. That will grow to referrals. That will grow to the business itself growing. The markets will increase the value of the investments will grow, hopefully, in that time as well. And yeah, it's just making sure that everybody gets to where they need to be with the money that they need, ultimately.

That's the key. But growth is always part of that. and I would love to triple my business in the next five years. Yeah. Can you share any upcoming projects you're excited about? Upcoming projects. Yes, we are working a lot with clients here in the US, helping them reduce their future taxes.

So I'm looking at doing a specific webinar here in Las Vegas on the 11th of November, which is going to help people plan for their future, ask any questions they need to ask. It's going to be quite a light webinar, a little bit of a presentation about financial planning, and then more of a Q&A for the guests on to ask me any questions that they might have, whether it be UK-specific. I'm going to certainly send it out to the Brits in the region to start with,

and then looking and expanding out to the Americans here as well. but really just giving them me as a resource for an hour to ask any questions that they might think they need so that they don't need to charge or pay a fee to get that information. Wow, that's great. If any of our listeners are interested in tending that webinar, where can they find that online? It's going to be a Zoom link. If you go, well, if you send me an email, I can send you a link. It will be just posted out on Facebook on the Brits and Irish and Las Vegas page to start with.

and then we'll look at expanding it out to the greater community if we have a successful first run. But if you need to get on the list, you can either send me an email at Craig, so is it C.Muron at blackpointCP.com or ping me a text 702708-8610. So how do you plan on giving back to the Las Vegas community through your success? I do a lot of work with animals. I do help a few charities. in town, Three Square and a few others, but the Nevada SPCA is where I focus a lot of my time when giving back to the community. I strongly believe that animals are, sometimes animals are better than people, but I think animals don't have a voice enough. So being that, being that voice for them to make sure that they get the support or get the safety that they need,

homeless pets, there's a big problem here in Las Vegas with that. So I do what I can to make sure that they've got the homes and get the support they needed as well. Perfect. So finally, reflecting on your journey, what's one piece of advice or a mantra that you carry with you in your business endeavors? So I do have a mantra that I say every day, but I won't repeat it for this because it's not exactly the positive mantra that you're probably looking for. But honestly, I think that you've got to look at yourself in any position you're in. You've got to realize that no matter who you're dealing with, no matter what company you're working with, the person on the other end probably is just as clueless in their position.

So don't worry if you don't know what you're doing straight away. You can learn it. You can get to know it. And the person that you're dealing with on the other end is probably thinking the same thing that you are. So as you grow older, you realize that we're all just trying to get through this life one step at a time. And education is key. Just learn everything you can. Just keep supping it up and learn as much as you possibly can about your particular field,

and you'll be fine. Wow, that's great. So, Craig, I understand you're a wine connoisseur. What's your favorite three bottles of wine right now? I am loving d'au rosé, Dow out of Pasoobles. I am equally enjoying just in wine, Justin Cabernet out of Pasoobles as well.

They've got a fantastic isosceles. In fact, they've got a great isosceles reserve as well, but so that one's not necessarily your daily wine. And honestly, just a shout out to the Vegas Valley winer in town because we make wine there and that is a great daily drinking wine cost effective and that that works for me on a daily basis but otherwise the wines from passau are very very good yes my wife would agree with you 100% we went there wine tasting this summer oh it's great we loved it so and i probably already know the answer to this next question

but what's your three favorite wine clubs three favorite wine clubs Temecula, I would go Wilson Creek in Temecula, just down the road. They send wine every other month, and it's usually pretty good. I've not had a bad wine from them. And if you're down in Temecula, check out Wilson Creek. They're the biggest winery down there. And then Dow and Justin. I love Dau and Justin.

I love the reds there. They're smooth, easy to drink. So, yeah, those would be my top three. Wonderful. Wonderful. Well, Craig, thank you so much. This is going to conclude. Vegas Business Spotlight, and again, you'll hear from us next week.

Thanks for being on the show. Thank you. Good to see you. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Vegas Business Spotlight. For more inspiring stories and insights from the Las Vegas business community, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform. And remember, you can catch new episodes each week at Vegas Business Spotlight.com, where we keep the spotlight shining bright on the entrepreneurs who make Las Vegas thrive.

And don't forget to like and subscribe. See you next week.