Can you sense that your clients are thinking of leaving you? Will another age of muted returns lead even more clients of financial advisors to shift? As per a study done in 2016, more than 60% of high as well as ultra-high net worth respondents switched advisors throughout their lifetimes. The percentage was 52% for the less-wealthy mass-affluent. But it seems that the numbers of dissatisfied clients are much higher. Inertia will keep few clients from moving from one advisor to another.
There are times when people become friends with the financial advisor and feel that they can’t leave him due to personal concerns. They actually don’t wish to hurt the sentiments of the advisor. Another thing they wonder is where they’re going to search for another financial advisor. For all those clients who are looking for a change, what are the few warning signs that they should look for? Let’s check them out.
Communication and performance
If clients have to judge the performance only, they need to provide at least 3-5 years of minimum and in an ideal situation, more than five years is probably best. It may indeed take too many years before you can actually see a specific investment strategy work. Ideally, you have to check how the strategy performs during bull and bear markets. The most important factor is trust. Do you think you’re not much comfortable to call on your advisor and speak about the plan and the investment decisions? If no, then you’re probably working with the wrong advisor.
Not being able to communicate advisor value can lead to abrasion. Many clients often leave when they don’t wish to pay fees as they fail to understand what they’re paying for and when they can avoid all sorts of investment risk and put off all their funds in the bank.
Few more warning signs:
- If you ask queries about your fees and your advisor isn’t able to explain that to you clearly in writing, it’s time to change ship.
- If you don’t get a timely response from your advisor, know that this won’t work for you.
- If the financial advisor doesn’t offer an investment policy statement at the beginning of the relationship which gives you an idea of expectations of asset allocation, you should get someone else.
- If you don’t get a clear-cut contract on what to expect and what not to, you should change your financial advisor.
Incoherent expectations
The key to retention is determining and meeting the expectations of clients. Retention usually starts with spending enough time upfront and feedback on client expectations continuously. Unless you are crystal clear about the things that you should expect from your advisor or those you won’t, you should never hire such a person to thrust your finances on him
Therefore, if you’re wondering about the times when you should think of hiring a new advisor, consider the above-mentioned points. Stay aware of being with the best company.
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