For all the time that advisors invest in conducting due diligence on managers and markets, most do a miserable job of leveraging the hours they spend in communicating with clients. Here’s how to change that in 2014.
Every advisor spends lots of time reading, doing research, listening to speakers and attending conferences, all with the goal of providing clients with the best possible advice. And that’s as it should be – even if you delegate the selection of individual securities, staying on top of developments is part of your job.
Let’s be clear, the vast majority of clients have little interest in the minutiae of the economic outlook or the prognosis for markets; they see that as your job. Even clients who do want to get more involved in the decision-making process typically look for you to provide guidance.
But these days, those same clients are too busy to get involved in the details of their portfolios, but also want to be highly confident that you are proactive in monitoring developments and making appropriate changes to their portfolios. Clients always want to feel that you’re on top of things, and that’s especially important when we’re faced with the kind of turbulence we’ve seen of late.
Due diligence isn’t enough; to get maximum value from the time you spend, you have to make clients aware of your efforts. Here are three ways that you can leverage your time you spend on due diligence.
Forwarding articles – “Your weekend reading”
I know an advisor who sends clients who agree to receive it an email each Friday titled, “Your Weekend Reading,” with links to one or two articles from publications such as The Economist, Financial Times, New York Times or Bloomberg Business Week.
He communicates that he has selected this article out of all the reading he’s done in the past week. Many clients have told him that they look forward to the articles – but even if someone doesn’t read the articles, he’s reminding clients that he’s on top of things.
As an aside, this works best if you limit the number of articles to one or two; a “top 10 reading list” actually makes it less likely that clients will look at anything you send and tends to water down the impact of the articles you’re featuring.
See full article on Making Your Research Pay Off in 2014 by Dan Richards, Advisor Perspectives
