What’s in It for You?...
Trust
This is a big one. I’ve been let down so many times by countless businesses I’ve dealt with over the years, ranging from builders who generally seem unaware of words such as ‘professional’ and ‘reliable’, to massive phone and energy companies who, very obviously, couldn’t care less that I’m one of their customers (kept on hold for ages, passed from pillar to post, never really feeling as though they understand my problem, etc).
If you’re going to have a relationship with someone who’s involved with your money, the need for trust with that person is far greater than it’s likely to be with the builder whom you’ve been waiting for (for days!) to come and fix a broken wall in the garden or the phone company who just can’t seem to work out that they’ve taken too much money from your bank account last month.
You need to trust your financial adviser. That trust can take a long time to build, probably years. During your initial engagement with them, you’re trying to get a sense of ‘can I trust this person with my money’. It’s hard because, obviously, you don’t want to make a mistake. You don’t want to find that their promises of ‘great service’ at the start evaporate once you’ve become a client. I’ve seen that happen… A LOT!.
Competence
Do they know what they’re doing? Are you confident that they can handle things without screwing it up? Your money is inextricably linked to your financial security. Money isn’t the end game in my view. The end game is living the life you want. Your money is simply the means of making that happen. You need an adviser who understands that and has the right skills to turn the theory in to reality!
You’ve probably engaged a financial adviser because you either don’t want to deal with the money (you’re too busy or have other things to do) or you just don’t feel you have the expertise. It doesn’t really matter WHY you work with an adviser, the important thing is that you need to feel reassured that they’re competent so you don’t have to worry about it. The last thing you want to be doing is having to check-up on them.
In terms of competence, I’m talking about the following sort of things:
Ensuring you’re invested in the right way and taking the ‘right’ amount of risk with your money
Keeping the tax you pay on your money to a minimum so more money stays in your pocket
Being able to re-organise your money if that’s what your life dictates
Having a great understanding of the legal and regulatory stuff that would leave you cold with boredom!
Making sure you always have enough money so you have peace of mind
What Do You Want?
I’m going to put my neck on the line here. I’m going to tell you what I believe to be the sort of things clients want from their financial adviser. I’ve just listed out a few of the technical things you might expect from an adviser, but I reckon it goes a bit deeper than that.
I think the best quality relationships clients have with their advisers are for reasons beyond the ‘competence’ stuff. Things like:
Do I like them and get on with them?
How do they engage with me?
Do they speak my language or do they speak fluent ‘jargon’?
Can I trust them to look after my money so I don’t have to worry about it?
Do they understand me and what’s important to me?
Can I rely on them to be there when I need them?
Do you share these views? What would you add? Of course, you expect the technical competence to be there, that’s a given. But long-term relationships can be so much more rewarding for you (and for us as advisers) if other, more emotional factors come in to the mix, like the ones above.
How Did I Do?
I hope I’ve captured how you, as a client, might view your relationship with a financial adviser. This sort of stuff is really important to me. The ‘non-technical’ aspect of a relationship that adds so much flavour and value to things.
I’m not now going to tell you how amazing we are and that we do everything perfectly. That would be arrogant and, frankly, untrue but, I hope, if you’ve engaged with us, you’ll know that we’re a bit more than just technical geeks. It’s the personal relationship side of things that I love.
If you disagree with me, do tell. I’m always trying to learn and improve so don’t be afraid to let me know, but be nice!
I’m off now to find out where my builder is!...