Mark's team of subject matter experts makes it unlikely that multiple independent professionals from reputable companies governed by separate regulatory agencies are going to successfully conspire to steal people's money. Somebody is going to blow the whistle.
Another great response to worried clients is the age-old investment rule of diversification. It might sound like this, "You have a globally diversified portfolio of investments across all asset classes with many different money managers. Each is an expert in a particular category. All of them have adhered to our stringent due diligence process. In the unlikely event one of them is a crook, it can't affect more than some limited percentage of your portfolio. Frankly, the people who got burned by Bernie Madoff violated many basic rules of investing, diversification being the most obvious.
How else can I help you be confident that we have this under control so you don't have to worry about someone stealing your money?"
In today's economic environment, I'm not a fan of leaning on responses like, "Even if I screw up and your money does get stolen, the SIPC will make you whole." First of all, that doesn't really answer the question, "How do I know you or your money managers are not stealing my money?" Secondly, many people these days aren't especially confident that such government guarantees are adequate. Can you blame them? What's that old saying? "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
A pattern that you will notice in each of these responses is that they follow some of our basic rules for trust-building communication. They are succinct, direct and delivered with confidence. They also end with a question, which invites the investor to ask whatever they want and feel confident they can trust you. This is not just a question of you knowing what to say and how to say it. It is also a function of your being a very good financial advisor who has your ducks in a row. That means you have systems and processes in place to take care of a client and you are a stickler for making sure they work. If this does not yet describe you, I encourage you to continue to move in that direction.
Chances are that you won't need more than one of these responses when a client asks if he can trust you. Or you may find that combining two or three of these responses will engender the confidence he needs to place his money with you or in the hands of the thousands of other capable and trustworthy money managers still out there.
(If you missed the Webinar, it was recorded, and you can find it online at http://www.fa-mag.com/multimedia/webcasts.html to view the recorded version.)