Sophie Hancox - My Life In the Workplace

Your name and job title?
Sophie Hancox, Team Leader at Optimus Fiduciaries Limited

What was your first job?
My first part-time job, was waitressing in a Jazz Bar and Restaurant at the Courtyard Theatre in Hereford. During University, I joined Ladbrokes as a cashier in Leicester and progressed to a Deputy Manager role in London before moving to the Isle of Man.

What did you want to be when you were at school?
The theatre has always fascinated me so I wanted to do something related to that. I studied Media Production at Art College as I wanted to work behind the scenes with stage management rather than perform and spent my summer holidays helping out with stage productions at my local theatre.

What Qualifications/Training do you need for your job?
The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) are the two main bodies that you would look to undertake further training with. STEP qualifications mainly focus around trusts and estate planning whereas ICSA focuses on the legalities of companies and the corporate governance behind them. Optimus encourage our staff in both qualifications.

What is the best thing about your job?
I enjoy the variety of my role as I manage a diverse portfolio of structures with ranging assets and work with clients from many nationalities and different cultures which makes every day different. I take a great deal of pride in leading my team of 4 individuals by helping them develop within their roles.

What is the most difficult thing about it?
Due to the nature of some of our entrepreneurial clients, there can be time sensitive projects and transactions that have urgent deadlines. Working towards them can be challenging at times but that is offset by the sense of achievement when they have been completed on time and the client is happy.

What are the most important qualities you need in your role?
Communication is so important for both leading a team but also ensuring our clients are well looked after. The majority of our clients are based internationally so we often correspond by telephone or email. Therefore the way we communicate with clients is very important to ensure they are receiving exceptional service levels.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into the same industry?
It may be controversial to say this but working in the fiduciary sector is not always a popular career choice but for the Isle of Man particularly, it is a fantastic industry to work in. So my advice would be, never rule this industry out over other ones that may look more glamorous on the surface as the roles can offer so much. I have worked in this industry now for over 10 years and I am still learning and experiencing new things. The skills within this role are very transferable too as the industry covers everything from Superyachts, Private Aircraft and Real Estate to most recently e-business and FinTech.