Case Study: Lynette Murray, ActonAdvice

Client satisfaction with business and lifestyle flexibility

A career and business built on client care

Lynette Murray has worked in financial services her whole career, the majority as an adviser. It’s a career that’s covered much ground and a fair slice of the advice industry development since the birth of compulsory superannuation contributions.

Lynette’s business, ActonAdvice, is a Canberra-based boutique advisory specialising in client-focused goals-based investing.

What strikes you immediately about Lynette is her infectious enthusiasm for her clients. She gains enormous satisfaction from helping people with their financial lives. She buys into their future prosperity with genuine care. It is that sense of responsibility that led her to a reassessment of her own and the industry’s approach.

Mindset rest

It was 2008, and while only grazing the knees of the Australian economy, the Global Financial Crisis saw the superannuation accumulated by many Australians decimated. Lynette witnessed first-hand the devastating emotional toll and lifestyle impacts on many of those nearing or in retirement.  This came on top of a long-held concern that there was a fundamental disconnect between what clients want and how the advice and investment industry operates.

Lynette observed that “clients are primarily focused on their retirement aspirations and need to meet the financial requirements of their pre-retirement life. What concerns them is building enough wealth and the stress of write-downs and volatility. They want to make money and don’t want to lose money. Yet the investment industry is managed according to a risk tolerance approach and an assumption that volatility and growth always go together”.

A focus on goals

So Lynette became a goals-based pioneer, particularly so in respect to investing. She set about building portfolios based on her client’s short, mid and long-term goals using a largely unconventional blend of financial products.  The approach delivered lower levels of volatility, and the approach facilitated a fundamentally different client management process.

Lynette helps her clients to unpack their financial goals with a positive outlook on retirement in their third age. It’s more than only overcoming fears and generating peace of mind.

Lynette Explains: “The process is centred on helping our clients to imagine their best future. Then working together to understand how we’ll help them realise their goals. We uncover the needs our clients have not yet realised or ever thought about. We ask questions that help them see their future more clearly and positively.”

While the approach to every client is unique, ActonAdvice employs a rigorous process to ensure portfolio management alignment with their client’s goals.

“Annual reviews are focused on her client’s evolving circumstances and goals in the context of their current wealth position. The effect is a shared interest in the progress of their investments towards their goals amidst life and environmental changes”, Lynette continued.

Dynamic Asset Managed Accounts

The latest and business-changing piece of Lynette’s goals-based odyssey came with the discovery of Dynamic Asset. “I am a member of the investment committee for my dealer group, Finchley & Kent. We were asked to evaluate Dynamic Asset as a potential goals-based investment specialist to partner with for our network of advisers”.

“It was clear to me immediately that Dynamic Asset and ActonAdvice share common philosophies on investing and a client-centric approach to business”. So I set about conducting due diligence for ActonAdvice, separately from my role on the investment committee.

“I was also able to build confidence through the transparency of Dynamic Asset reporting and commentary and access to the monthly portfolio manager meeting. Dynamic Asset is open and accessible to my questions.

“Dynamic Asset has Jerome Lander, a specialised active portfolio manager”. Their specialisation, consistent focus and access to a broader pool of assets mean they can manage portfolios more effectively than an adviser can with all their other responsibilities. The specialisation and economies of scale are different”.

Lynette has found the effect on the ActonAdvice business to be transformative, which has positively impacted her own life.

“The amount of time saved from Portfolio Management and change authority administration is very significant. So much so that I’ve found flexibility to do exactly what I want to do”.

“We now have clients across Australia that we can seamlessly service because people are so accustomed to video calls. This has allowed me to travel more and conduct client meetings anywhere worldwide. I now have a new view of what my workday looks like.

“Plus, I now have a different attitude to retirement. My options are far more open than they used to be. I can choose to spend more time on sales or clients or take time for myself. All while maintaining the standard of service that our client’s expect”.

“I’m really lucky to love what I do. It’s a good feeling to work with my clients as I do”.

You get the sense that Lynette is practising what she preaches and has discovered a way of managing her business that brings prosperity, happiness and satisfaction to both her and her clients. It’s impressive.

‘With Dynamic Asset, I’ve found flexibility for my business and life”.

Contact us today to learn more about how Dynamic Asset can help you to manage portfolio risk and capitalise on upside investment opportunities.

Image: Canberra Business News