The Human Side Of Money presented by Client Care Lifestyle Financial Planning
Do you know how many clients your financial adviser has? This may seem like an odd question, but it has a direct bearing on the quality and type of service and advice you will get over time. The more clients an adviser has the greater chance there is that the relationship they have with their clients is more transactional than relational. This may seem like a play on words, so what is the difference?
If you are wanting a transactional relationship with your adviser, then this may not be an issue. In this relationship your adviser will mostly be reactive, in other words they will wait for you to contact them and then give you the information or opinion you are wanting at that time. The focus here will be around a product, or the markets and general rules of thumb will be applied to your situation or query. Your adviser in this relationship is valued for their technical ability. Many of these advisers have 100’s or 1000’s of clients so they are not able to get to know you on a proper personal basis, but that is not how they see their role.
A relational adviser will seldom have more than 150 clients or families that they work with. In this relationship your adviser makes and takes the time to get to know you and your family. They will help you through various planned and unplanned transitions throughout your lifetime and will be there as a sounding board through good and bad times. This adviser has more than just the technical ability that you need around products, they are able to see your uniqueness and help you find solutions that work for you, to get the outcomes that you want. The relational adviser is generally known to your family, seen as part of the decision-makers, and trusted around family issues.
With the ever-increasing free access to information, many see the transactional adviser’s days as numbered. The answer to most questions around products etc can be found by typing into Google and this has resulted in many people seeing no value in their transactional adviser.
However, as they say, if knowledge was the answer to everything, we would all be Billionaires with 6-packs. Relational advisers with less than 150 clients are the way to go.
Dirk Groeneveld, Certified Financial Planner
t. 083 261 9287
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