August is traditionally a slow month for most Americans, including many advisors, and I’m sure most of you deserve to take some hard-earned vacation time after four or five tough years.
That said, I seriously urge you to take the time to read this issue. There are many places where you might want to start, but I’d suggest Bill Bachrach’s column on page 46 about evaluating how much clients trust you might open your eyes.
For most advisors, I’d wager that their clients believe they are honest and competent. They wouldn’t have given you a big chunk of their life savings if they didn’t. But Bill has created an online survey that you can take that really drills down and explores issues revolving around client trust in much greater depth than you may have previously considered. It’s a worthwhile way to begin to appraise the value you deliver to clients.
Speaking of clients, it’s amazing how much an advisor can learn from listening to them. In a remarkably candid column on page 42, Roy Diliberto discusses how his firm has relied on client advisory councils to enhance their service platforms. From comments on the firm’s Web site to its marketing brochure, to how it conducts review meetings, Diliberto’s firm has received invaluable advice about what clients want directly from the source. Something to think about.
On page 35, Michelle Knight details how one client’s goals prompted the firm to embark on a tour of the world of impact investing. Like she used to, I’ve always taken a skeptical attitude toward impact investing, reasoning that the goal of an investment is that it should perform, while charity was the place for doing good. If doing well dovetails with doing good, that’s great. But in my mind, they are two separate and independent issues. A lot of advisors and clients think otherwise.
One common thread running through all three articles is how much advisors can learn from listening to their clients. That lesson is particularly relevant in times like these, when many advisors are enjoying record revenues and profits in their businesses. Remember who got you there.
There are three more articles I’ll call to your attention this month, and that’s only because I am limited by space. Robert Powell’s cover story on page 66 about the nexus between health and wealth provides a telescope into the world of more and more older clients that is going to confront advisors in the next two decades.
It’s hard for any advisor to find an asset class that compares with U.S. equities over the last 18 months. On page 73, Eric Rasmussen takes a look at one, the REIT market, that has done until very recently. Meanwhile, Jeff Schlegel examines one that hasn’t, managed futures, on page 79. It should be noted that advisors’ love affair with managed futures began in 2009 after they performed so well in the financial crisis. Are they a better insurance policy than gold is? You decide.
Evan Simonoff, Editor-in-Chief
E-mail me at [email protected] with your opinion.