The future is not what it used to be! – Yogi Berra
What if you could do “what you want, when you want, with who you want for as long as you want”? According to the finance author, Morgan Housell, you would be wealthy. I think you’ll go a long way to find a better definition of wealth. In short, we trade time for money and then ultimately money for free time.
Achieving the above definition of wealth depends on your ability to save and build wealth as well as your ability to manage your desires. While these two levers are obvious and simple very few people achieve this.
Why do smart people get caught in investment scams or fail to have a good financial plan?
During my time working in financial corporates, I was fascinated as to why these poor outcomes occurred. Why do smart people get caught in investment scams or fail to have a good financial plan? My journey to understand why so many fail to achieve their desired financial outcomes, provided the catalyst to try and solve this problem.
One of the major problems of consumption driven by marketing messages, is not something we can solve in the financial framework, however it can be managed once people understand the implications. This is where a great advisor makes the difference by getting clients engaged and helping them understand the consequences of unnecessary spending.
We believe you need to get financially engaged.
This means we need to do all we can to help you understand the process. Failure to achieve this has been a result of some advisors using scare tactics which result in disengagement. You are frightened off by the complexity and just hand over all responsibility to the advisor. This can lead to disastrous outcomes. If the advice process can’t be explained simply then the chances are, the person doing the explaining may not understand them.
We believe that the investment process should be consistent across all clients and advisors.
We built a central investment committee to ensure that. This way the advice firm provides its best thinking through all advisors rather than each advisor doing their own thing. The investment team is made up of people with strong institutional backgrounds that understand how to select the best fund managers and package them into solutions which provide the targeted outcomes clients seek.
A common mistake is for clients to only focus on performance of managers, as yesterday’s winners are not always tomorrow’s winners. It’s more important to focus on processes that can deliver consistent results over time. Your future is marathon not a sprint.
The industry is constantly changing, and we believe that you need to change with it. Products are evolving and advisors need to be up to date. In addition, you need to invest in technology, as we have done, to ensure better engagement. The more you understand and the more engaged you are, the better your chances of financial success.
We believe that fees needed to be addressed.
We’ve worked hard at reducing fees and currently charge half the industry average. A 1% saving in fees over 20 years results in 20% more capital at the end of that period. Managing your costs will have a significant impact on your financial success.
We believe that you don’t go to an advisor to be sold something.
We believe you come to see us to get financial peace of mind. This can only be achieved if you’re involved and understand the process. As you see your planning deliver results it becomes a rewarding journey that is easy and encouraging to build on.
As advisors we never lose sight of the fact that this is your life’s work that you have entrusted us with. This is why everything we do is guided by two simple words “Better Outcomes”. In every decision we make, we ask whether this will lead to a “Better Outcome” for you. If not, we move on.
