Jonny McNamee

‍Adviser spotlight: meet Jonny McNamee, the adviser who loves a good puzzle, a clean fairway, and the feeling when clients finally exhale

Behind every solid financial outcome lies a story of human connection, problem-solving, and frankly, a whole lot of patience. At Become Wealth, we believe your financial journey deserves attention from people who genuinely care about the details, and few exemplify this better than Jonny McNamee, one of our seasoned advisers.

Jonny has spent more than two decades immersed in the wider financial services industry, and for him, the move into financial advice wasn't a calculated leap of ambition, but a smooth, natural progression. It’s a calling rooted in a fundamental satisfaction: solving problems and helping people navigate their trickiest life moments.

Jonny brings more than 20 years in wider financial services to the table. He spent years partnering with advisers, learning how decisions ripple through families and businesses. The step into frontline advice was the logical next move, a chance to apply what he had learned to benefit clients directly.

A Moment Every Financial Adviser Lives For

One meeting stays top of Jonny’s mind.

A couple approaching retirement arrived with investments scattered across products, unsure how the pieces fit together. Jonny began by acknowledging their journey and isolating the problem they wanted solved as they entered retirement. After modelling the moving parts, the projections showed they were going to be okay. The look of relief was priceless; the kind of outcome advisers remember.

If you’ve ever tried to roll three or four KiwiSaver funds, a rental property, and a legacy share portfolio into a plan you can actually live on, you might already know the feeling. Jonny helps people convert scattered positions into an organised, durable plan they can trust. He doesn’t judge past decisions. He listens, frames the goals, and brings clarity to forge a way forward.

Markets Wobble, Goals Endure

No financial journey is ever a smooth upward curve, and a key part of any investment adviser’s job is helping clients navigate the inevitable market downturns.

Downturns test patience. They also test conversations. Jonny has had his fair share of prickly chats when markets dip. The human instinct is to panic when the numbers are red, to make an emotional decision when a rational one is needed. But Jonny knows a well-informed client will know these downturns are coming and will be financially and mentally prepared. He can then reset the discussion to the bigger picture and the client’s goals and can refocus on the original goals: the house, the comfortable retirement, the legacy. Then, the short-term market noise fades into the background. It helps clients look at the bigger picture and long-term horizon. This ties directly into the wisdom of one of the all-time great financial gurus, a quote that serves as a timeless anchor for investors facing volatility. As Warren Buffett once said,

“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient”.

Jonny sees this impatience in action constantly, noting that the people taking the biggest risks are, by and large, completely unaware of the risks they are taking. They are often the ones reacting emotionally to the day’s headlines, not the ones who have a clear understanding of their long-term plan. The adviser's role is not to predict the next market move but to instil the discipline necessary to be patient enough to reap the rewards that are transferred from the impatient.

Listening First, Then Designing A Plan Clients Can Live With

Financial advice, in Jonny’s words, isn’t about telling people they did anything wrong or barking orders. It is about listening to what clients want to do and then recommending a way to help them achieve it. He focuses on a plan people can live with, one that reflects their priorities, time horizon, and tolerance for ups and downs.

He pays special attention to a common blind spot he sees repeatedly. Many investors have their hard-earned money in products they inadequately understand. If you don’t recognise the risks and reasons behind a fund or product, you can be surprised at the worst times. As Peter Lynch put it, “Know what you own, and know why you own it.” Jonny’s conversations aim to reach that level of understanding, so each holding earns its place.

How Jonny Keeps His Advice Sharp

You’ll find Jonny tuning into the “5 in 5” podcast most mornings, which gives him a crisp snapshot before client meetings begin. He likes digestible, regular sources that keep him close to developments without drowning in noise.

Coming from a corporate background, he also values pace. He enjoys working inside a team where decisions move quickly and pragmatically, with the agility you want when markets shift, and the client needs change. The variety of people he engages with energises him, and he rates the team of advisers he works alongside as one of the best parts of Become Wealth.

Retirement Is a Long Time, Not A Date

Perhaps the most common misconception Jonny encounters, and one he is passionate about eliminating, concerns how people should invest when they approach retirement. The established, old-school wisdom dictates that as you near age 65, your entire portfolio should be moved into a Conservative fund or cash.

While holding a slice of cash and conservative investments is certainly a component of any sound retirement plan, necessary for meeting immediate needs and emergency funds, the idea of a complete shift to ultra-low-risk assets is a fallacy based on outdated life expectancy figures. “When you consider people may be retired for 20 plus years, there is a long-term play as well,” Jonny asserts.

Think about the reality of modern retirement. A 65-year-old couple today can reasonably expect at least one of them to live well into their 90s. Their "retirement" fund isn't a single pool of money they will spend down in five years; it's a multi-decade endowment. The funds they plan to draw on in 15 or 20 years are still in their long-term investment phase and need to be protected from a pervasive, quiet threat: inflation.

Inflation, the silent destroyer of purchasing power, chips away at the value of cash and low-growth assets every single day. If your conservative fund returns two per cent, but inflation is running at three per cent, your money is effectively shrinking. Over two decades, this compounding loss of purchasing power can be devastating.

Relationships Built on Genuine Curiosity

Jonny approaches long-term relationships with genuine interest. He loves learning about client’s careers, hobbies, and odd passions. If you collect classic vinyl, grow citrus, or hand plane timber, he will ask questions and learn something new. That curiosity builds trust. It is also practical. The more an adviser understands the person behind the portfolio, the better the plan fits real life.

This brings us to the core of what he has learned that has transcended his professional life. The single most impactful lesson he has learned as a financial adviser that has improved his personal life is profoundly simple: Do not assume anything about people.

Financial advising forces you to encounter people from all walks of life, with backgrounds and mindsets you can't predict. The only way to truly help them is to approach every interaction as a fresh slate, without preconceived notions about their values, knowledge, or intentions. This humility and openness is not only essential for building a great client relationship but also for navigating the world in general.

Jonny is a golf addict. Whether golf helps unwind or raise blood pressure depends on the day. He jokes that a bad day on the course still beats a good day in the office. We tested this by asking about a triple bogey. His smile said it all.

If he weren’t an adviser, he would happily be a green keeper, solving problems against Mother Nature one fairway at a time. It is the perfect metaphor for advice too. Conditions change, but care, patience, and steady work keep the course playable.

How Jonny’s Advice Fits Together At Become Wealth

People rarely need a financial steer in just one area.

Jonny works within a comprehensive service offering which spans investments, property, mortgages, and personal insurance. He thinks in terms of coherence. Mortgage decisions influence portfolio flexibility. Insurance decisions protect the plan. Property decisions change risk and liquidity. Bringing those threads together gives clients a plan that behaves well, not only on paper, but in life.

Personal Financial Advice He’d Give To His Younger Self

Start earlier.

Compounding looks slow in the first few years, then suddenly delivers outcomes you never thought possible. Jonny has seen this play out across client portfolios. He laughs that avoiding most of his parents’ financial advice helped, too!

What Jonny, and Clients, Find Most Rewarding

The best part of being a financial adviser, in Jonny’s view, is:

“Hearing the genuine thanks and seeing the weight lifted off people's shoulders when you give them comfort that their financial life is going to be okay.”

Why Jonny’s Way Works

Advice succeeds when it aligns with real goals, communicates clearly, and respects both math and emotions. Jonny blends technical depth with empathy. He listens, designs a plan people can follow, and holds course through turbulence. Just like all the team, Jonny avoids jargon for jargon's sake and uses simple, durable rules clients remember.

The Bottom Line: Jonny McNamee

Jonny McNamee is the adviser you want when your financial life feels like a jigsaw missing three pieces and a corner. He enjoys the puzzle, respects your goals, and has the patience to help you get from confusion to confidence.

Jonny is based in Wellington and frequently travels across the rest of New Zealand.

Jonny thrives in a fast-moving team at Become Wealth, enjoys people with interesting hobbies, and believes the best advice is practical, understandable, and durable. He also believes a round of golf, even a scrappy one, can teach patience, and patience is useful almost everywhere.

If you would like to discuss your own financial puzzle with Jonny, reach out to Become Wealth and ask for Jonny McNamee, or connect with Jonny on LinkedIn.