This week has been all about the Autumn Statement and it does take some time to digest the implications for clients especially those in a capped drawdown and those with decent-sized pension pots ( or DB entitlements). This is why we provide you a summary of all the facts and figures together with this week’s interesting articles in this installment of Adviser Digest. Click on the title to read the full article(opens new window).
Adding Value To Sustain Business
This article by Dennis Hall highlights the pitfalls of advisers focusing more on doing a a good job for clients and less on building a successful business. The move to a fee-based proposition will be daunting for many advisers, particularly those who have built their businesses around brokering products in the past. ‘If all you think you are doing is flogging a product, you will quickly be undercut by someone else who will do it cheaper’ He wrote.
Adviser firms need to know their target market and what the target market is prepared to pay for – advice, peace of mind, specific services, or all the above. He noted that ‘Simply acting as a product distributor will put you in the same league as the hard-pressed corner shop competing against the might of the supermarkets’
Hall encouraged advisers to embark on a new course of learning, not in pensions, investment theories and tax legislation but on people, psychology and marketing.
What Stands Between Me and Stupid
In this article in MorningstarAdvisor (US), financial planner and author Carl Richard wrote about why he (and anyone else) hires a financial planner.
Writing from his own of perspective as a client, sitting on the other end of the table, Richards set out three big reasons he is happy to write a cheque to a planner;
- The first is the need for ongoing help to clarifying his goals. This is a very hard and emotionally complex process, especially hen there is a spouse or partner involved and are far more productive with the help of someone who has experience facilitating such conversations.
- The need for accountability is the second reason Carl hires a financial planner. He pointed out that just knowing someone is going to ask about the progress we’ve made towards our goals helps to keep us on track.
- Someone to stand between us and stupid. ‘Being an advisor with the CFP designation, years of experience, and the biggest calculator in the land, doesn’t make you immune to classic behavioural mistakes with investing’ Richard wrote. As a matter of fact, planners may be more prone to doing dumb things with money because we spend all day thinking about. This is why having an independent third party between us and doing something stupid is crucial
Autumn Statement: Financial Planning Facts & Figures
In case you missed it, earlier this week we posted a really useful table with a snapshot of the facts and figures relevant to financial planning, from the autumn statement. Hopefully, this will be a good reference source in your discussion with clients.
I hope you have enjoyed this and hopefully it’ll make you job a little easier! As paraplanners, that’s what we do! As usual, thought and comments are welcome. Enjoy your weekend!
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