The QPR x Affinity Sports Workshop: Raising Awareness on Financial Planning for Professional Athletes.

Our Sports Manager, Adam, provides a recap on our recent workshop for Queens Park Rangers.

“Earlier this year, we announced Affinity Sports as the Official Financial Services Partner for Queens Park Rangers. In April, I headed to London with my colleagues Andy Morgan and Colin Quayle to deliver a talk to the players on financial planning.

At Affinity Sports we protect athletes’ interests by providing a range of services, in-house and through our network of partners, to help athletes secure their financial legacy.

Our partnership goes beyond backing their abilities on the pitch and our recent workshop allowed us to share the importance of financial planning for athletes and some key techniques to maximise earnings and preserve wealth.

Statistics reveal that an estimated 40 per cent of professional footballers are at risk of bankruptcy within five years of retirement. One of the reasons for this is athletes not seeking professional guidance to help them effectively manage their finances. Athletes typically acquire large sums of wealth at a young age and can often be inexperienced with handling finances. The short-term earning window for an athlete typically lasts up to decade, which is why it is critical an athlete stretches out their earnings to secure their future.

For any individual, not just athletes, the earlier you can start investing the better, as over a long period of time money can grow significantly with compound interest. A key point we outlined in the workshop was to start thinking about the end at the beginning. The goal is to gradually build a lifestyle that is in line with the athletes’ earning power so that their wealth remains sustainable during retirement. Without planning, wealth can quickly diminish. Invested and structured properly, an athlete can secure a financial legacy.

Deploying a tailored investment strategy can significantly increase an athlete’s wealth over a long period, and conducting strategic investments will diversify their income streams and spread the risk of their wealth portfolio. Preserving wealth is just as important as accumulating it to help maintain an athlete’s wealth for retirement. Long-term planning techniques like estate planning will implement robust, efficient vehicles, such as Wills and Trusts, to secure wealth for the future. By combining this with strategic investing, the athlete could build a wealth portfolio that continuously increases over time which can support them, their loved ones, and secure a financial legacy.

A professional advisor will deploy a tailored strategy centred on the athletes’ personal goals and will encompass all aspects of the wealth management cycle to maximise and preserve their earnings. They will also showcase how their goals can be achieved whilst the athlete can sustain the lifestyle they wish to lead.

We hope the QPR players found the session insightful, and they took away some knowledge and practical tips on effective wealth management. We are planning to do more workshops on financial planning to support the sports communities and will be heading across to the States next.

How Affinity Sports can help

Affinity Sports offers a range of services to support sports professionals at all stages of their careers, whether just starting out, at the peak of their success, or planning for a future beyond sports. Our focus is on protecting our clients’ interests and assisting them in managing the physical, emotional, and financial pressures of working in sports.

We offer a range of tailored services and hold a network of trusted partners to support athletes in managing all aspects of their financial and lifestyle requirements.

Feel free to contact me at adam@affinityco.com if you would like to chat about our sports services or if you have any personal requirements.”