Symmetry Spotlight: William Chettle

What led you to a career in finance?

I didn’t exactly take a traditional path into financial services. I was actually freshly graduated from film school. I had my master’s in filmmaking and was trying to make an independent film world, and that was proving very challenging.

So, I got a job on Wall Street writing training materials. I also have a degree in English, and they needed somebody who could write. I could. I fell in love with the business. I never thought I’d end up in financial services but I’m delighted to be here.

How has your background shaped you for your role?

My creative background allows me to think a little bit differently about problems. I also think that if you’re going to resonate with clients, if you’re going to actually help people, sometimes bringing a fresh approach, telling a story in a new way, can make a real difference in the receptivity, helping them stay invested, helping them understand why this might be the right approach to take.

These all are things that I think make a real difference when you bring creativity to bear on professional challenges.

What is Symmetry’s key differentiator? 

We are consultative. We really want to meet the Financial Advisor where he or she is. So often firms take the approach Henry Ford had: You can have any color you want as long as it’s black. That’s not very helpful.

Because we take a consultative approach, we understand what the financial advisor is trying to do.

With our 30 years of experience, the fact that we work with thousands of Advisors and have helped so many Advisors over the years grow and deliver a better client experience. That enables us to see what the Advisors are trying to do and how we can best help them do that.

What is the most important way you help Symmetry’s clients?

We’re really freeing them up so that they can focus on what is most important, which is spending time with their clients and growing their business. We provide them with materials, consulting, advice, and solutions that free up their time. This is really important because advisors intuitively know that their best and highest use is being in front of clients.

What do you enjoy most about the work you do?

Every day is different. And it’s fun to spend time solving problems creatively and thinking about how you can bring new solutions, services, tools, and education to your clients—and what can you do differently today?

What is the best advice you’ve received?

Understand the impact of what you’re doing. If it doesn’t have an impact, if it’s not actually helping people, then it’s not really beneficial.

You really have to understand what you’re doing, who you’re helping, and why. And if you can’t measure it, if you can't track it, you should really think about whether you should be doing it.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned professionally?

Never forget who your client is. Have deep client empathy. That’s so important because, so often, in so many businesses, it becomes all about me. It becomes about the firm and what you do. And that’s great. But if you’re not actually helping your client, if you’re not understanding the challenges, the opportunities, the goals, the struggles, the joys they face, you’re not going to be able to make a real difference.

Our firm runs on talent, skill, experience, and teamwork. Watch the Symmetry Spotlight video series to learn more about the professionals behind Symmetry’s client services, marketing, and investment strategies.

For questions or more information, visit symmetrypartners.com/contact-us or give us a call at 800.786.3309.

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