12 May Choosing the right adviser
“I don’t want to see him alone. He says things that annoy me. He gives me good advice.”
Oscar Wilde, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’
The other day, I was listening to a podcast interview with someone who works with financial planning firms in the US and she stated, ‘No one ever wakes up in a cold sweat at 2 a.m. thinking “I must get a comprehensive financial plan!”’, which is very true.
When potential new clients first contact us, the issue which has brought them to our door is never the fact that they have suddenly discovered that they need a financial plan. It’s always a trigger which is much more specific, such as wanting to know whether they can afford to retire, the impact of changing jobs or selling a business.
Similarly, in choosing an adviser with whom to work, people can often hone in on issues which ignore the important things to consider. They will concentrate on areas such as the level of fees the adviser charges, the track record of the investments they recommend or whether they can ‘get in and out of the market when things are volatile’.
Choosing the right adviser is not like buying a car or a holiday. You’re buying a long-term relationship – or at least you should be.
Do you want the adviser who is the cheapest, or the one who is going to give you wise counsel? Do you want the adviser who spends so much time researching and monitoring the markets that they’ve got no time to spend thinking about you? Do you want the adviser with no identifiable and consistent investment philosophy, or the one who can articulate theirs in simple terms that you understand?
Do you want the adviser who has no real interest in building a relationship with you beyond a relationship with your money, or the one who gets to know you well enough to tell you when you’re about to make a big mistake – and will be honest enough with you to do that?
For a lot of people, at the start of their journey to find the right adviser, there’s a disconnect between the adviser they think they want and the one they need.
We believe everyone should be able to find the right adviser for them. So much so that we’ve created an impartial guide to help in that search. Perhaps it can help you?
“Let men be wise by instinct if they can, but when this fails be wise by good advice.”
SOPHOCLES
Warm regards
Carolyn