The Eman Effect: How Limehouse’s Emmanuel Asuquo became the people’s financial advisor

Affable and down to earth, Asuquo uses everything from kids’ books to reels to teach normal people about their finances.

When Emmanuel Asuquo grew up in a council estate in Limehouse, forgetting to turn off the lights was a major offence. It showed a lack of respect for money, in a home where things were already tight. In bed, with the lights off, he’d look out the window and see Canary Wharf. Countless buildings, hundreds of floors, all glimmering with lights throughout the night. 

‘I used to just be like, wow, these guys must be rich,’ Asuquo said, ‘Because I can’t even leave one light bulb in my kitchen on.’

‘So then that became my dream,’ he explains, ‘To make it to Canary Wharf because I felt like if I can make it and work over in Canary Wharf, I’ll be able to change my life and be able to help my family as well.’ 

In a few short years, Asuquo’s dream came true. At age 22 he became Barclay’s youngest financial advisor. He found himself celebrating his new position dining at the top of one of those sparkling buildings, the view he’d coveted for years. 

Looking out into the night, buzzing with his new success, he looked for his estate, feeling he’d gone full circle. But in the dark blur of Limehouse, picking out Locksley Estate was impossible. 

Since then, Asuquo has gone full circle once again. Following his early banking success he changed tracks, preferring to advise the public instead of super-rich individuals. After stints on TV, he now lectures the masses on social media on how to build generational wealth. 

Aged 39, Asuquo is married with three children. He went to Bow School in the early 2000s, where he was a self-described class clown with a love for sports, frequently featured in the East London Advertiser for his rugby successes. His parents were immigrants from Nigeria, who instilled in Asuquo the art of the side hustle. While at school, he resold jeans and washed cars on the side.

After leaving school, Asuquo first found himself at Canary Wharf as a cashier at Marks & Spencer’s. While there, he began studying for a degree in accounting and finance at Greenwich University. 

Asuquo then moved on to cashier at Barclay’s, where he won internal awards for his customer service. Once his degree was completed, he applied for a job opening as a Financial Advisor. Despite being much younger than the standard, his stellar reputation as a cashier managed to land him the job. At first, he was over the moon, but slowly he became disenchanted. 

‘There was so much jargon. It was so serious. You had to wear a tie and suit. And, you know, it felt so different from my day-to-day,’ he explains, ‘I never met anyone that looked like me or came from my background.’

‘I realized that I was mainly helping rich people get richer. And I didn’t feel like I had the opportunity to help people that came from similar backgrounds to mine.’ 

It’s a reasonable assumption at Barclay’s, one of the UK’s most notoriously out-of-touch companies. Most recently, the banking giant provoked outrage when they told customers unable to access their funds that they should consult with food banks in the meantime. 

Today, Asuquo’s work is purposefully accessible, often hosted on social media or podcasts, and caters to people growing wealth from a more humble place. 

‘My whole page and my whole ethos is about making everyday people feel like no, finance is something that is for them and they don’t need to have a degree in it or be studying it,’ he said, ‘We all need to know how money works and we all need to be able to understand it. So that’s why I do what I do.’

Recently he released a kid’s book called The Ultimate Guide to Money which teaches them the basics of spending, saving and investing with a tempting premise – turn £1 into £1 million.

The book is a more put-together version of Asuquo’s teachings on social media. ‘I meet a lot of young people and they’re like, my mum sends me your videos in WhatsApp,’ he laughs, ‘So they like me, but they kind of don’t like me at the same time.’ 

Some sections require a suspension of disbelief – closer to the £1 million mark, the child has become a tiny landlord. However most of the advice, like how to plan a budget or assess a business idea, are lifelong skills that can be put directly into practice. 

As part of his book tour, he went back to Bow School, where he’d studied himself, and gave away free copies of the book to students. He was recognised and warmly welcomed by some of his former teachers. 

With the students, he told his story, including the lows, like when he was made redundant. ‘Coming from our backgrounds, it can feel that the odds are stacked against you and you can’t make it, so don’t bother trying,’ Asuquo said, ‘Having that mindset of not giving up can lead them to success.’

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