Being in lockdown can bring feelings of uncertainty and despondency, but taking advantage of the imposed downtime to work on your advice business may help instil hope and position your firm for a brighter future once the pandemic is behind us.
To make a start, here are the top four things you can do to unlock your business’s growth right now:
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Define your investment philosophy
Trust and transparency are key concepts in today’s financial advice industry. Potential clients are looking for an adviser who truly understands their financial needs and can demonstrate how to deliver appropriate financial outcomes. You can reveal your credentials by defining your investment philosophy so prospective customers know what they can expect from your services.
Crucially, your philosophy must outline your genuine and distinct investment beliefs, rather than detail a standard set of principles that aim to appeal to everyone. For instance, do you believe active or passive investment management delivers superior returns? Do you regard risk as failing to maximise returns or is it about not meeting your clients’ investment goals? Do you use risk profiling to determine a suitable investment strategy or are you focused on achieving your client’s specific goals, irrespective of their risk tolerance?
Being clear on your investment philosophy will guide your business decisions, such as choosing an appropriate business partner when outsourcing investment management or administration or hiring new staff. Your philosophy will also keep you aligned with your investment strategy, especially during adverse market conditions when you may be tempted to react to short-term events. Furthermore, crystalising your investment philosophy is an important part of developing alignment with your clients, and in turn, creating the trust that is essential for a successful relationship.
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Develop a differentiated value proposition
What do you offer that your competitors don’t? Increasingly, clients are seeking personalised services that can help them navigate the increasingly complex financial landscape and are turning away from advisers that subject them to a cookie-cutter advice process with a product focus. Clients also want to be confident that their adviser can deliver an optimal financial outcome that is specific to their needs.
These trends, which have been developing for many years amid threats from low-cost robo-advisers and easy access to do-it-yourself investing, have been accelerated by the disruption and insecurity caused by the pandemic. The resulting shift in financial priorities has led many people to review their financial situation, creating a greater need for tailored and collaborative advice.
Take advantage of these changes by creating a differentiated and appealing value proposition that places your client at the centre of your offer and ensures that your business can thrive.
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Create the capacity to scale
Implementing a customer-centric value proposition by nature requires advisers to devote considerable time towards cultivating client relationships in order to properly understand their needs and uncover their unique financial goals. Yet this valuable time is being increasingly consumed by ever-more-stringent regulatory requirements.
However, an innovative solution that saves time while maximising client value is available via managed discretionary accounts, such as that provided by Dynamic Asset. These accounts allow advisers to implement a tailored investment strategy for each client by mixing and matching a standard set of institutional-grade portfolios with specific risk and return targets. At the same time, the adviser can outsource the associated paperwork and time-consuming investment research to a professional investment manager. Meanwhile, client value is elevated by the ability to access superior investment services and apply portfolio changes across the entire client base, minus the workload. This makes it possible to provide a top-end sophisticated service to even low-value clients.
The greater efficiency stemming from managed discretionary accounts creates the capacity to service more clients, offer a better service, and in turn, grow profit.
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Tell your story
Finally, ensure that you make the most of your work into pivoting your business towards success by brushing up on your marketing skills. Perhaps host a Zoom call to update your clients on current market trends and ask them to extend the invitation to others they think will benefit from your services.
You can also use your refined investment philosophy as a reason to contact your clients, reinstate your value proposition and confirm that you are looking out for them. Clients that understand the benefits you offer are more likely to advocate for your business and refer prospective clients, helping your advice firm thrive, now and in the future.
