Hard Lessons from a Lost Account

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Every couple of weeks for the past year and a half, I’ve taken an evening or a weekend morning to talk to investors – discussing their mood and  chatting about what they’re thinking and doing.

A couple of weeks ago I talked to an investor who had recently switched advisors – and who  provided an example of  the stress that investors experience when they’re not sure whether their advisor is really on top of their financial affairs.

“I’d been working with this advisor for a few years” he said “and I liked him well enough. He’s actually a really nice guy.

Tags: Advertisement, Blip, Compendium, Financial Affairs, Hard Lessons, Initiative, Investor, Investors, Losing Sleep, Lost, Nice Guy, Sleep, Stress, Target, Term Focus
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Getting a do-over on investing decisions

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

My March column in Investment Executive describes a talk one evening last fall in which I spoke to 200 investors, filling in at the last moment for a speaker who’d had to cancel because of a family emergency.

I asked the audience to imagine that it was January 1 of 1970, forty years ago – and they had $100 to invest. They could put that $100 in one of six stock markets  –  the United States, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. Further, they could divide it up in any way they wished – they could put it all into one market, divide it up evenly among the six or any combination in between.

Tags: Academics, Audience, Compendium, Exercise 1, Family Emergency, Forty Years, Hong Kong, Investment Executive, Investor, January 1, Last Moment, Market Bias, Phrase, Proximity, Recency Effect, Roller Coaster Ride, Stock Markets, Target, Tendency, Volatility
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Turning service problems into opportunities

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

No matter how hard we try to avoid them, it’s inevitable that on occasion clients will experience a service problem – a change of address doesn’t go through, something that was supposed to be sent slips through the cracks or a request wasn’t followed up on.

Even small mistakes can be costly – they can corrode client confidence, undermine goodwill and sometimes even cost you a client. A while back, I spoke to an investor who pulled his account because of a succession of irritating mistakes over an eighteen month period.

Tags: Advertisement, Change Of Address, Client Confidence, Cracks, Email, Face, Goodwill, Gritted Teeth, Investor, Relationships, Shoulders, Six Step, Slips, Succession
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Articles You Can Send Clients (August 12, 2009) – Quality, Quality, Quality

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Each Wednesday we are sending you 3 articles you can send to clients to stay in touch and to promote open lines of communication with them. Its especially difficult to be motivational when there is so much skepticism about the economy and the market. When the market was a screaming buy, clients were not exactly beating down your door, and now that the market has had a massive rally, the skepticism turns back to downside concerns.

Tags: Amp, Bet, Discipline, Downside, Excuse, Gmo, Immobilization, Investor, Jeremy Grantham, Lean Years, Massive Rally, Overruns, Pantheon, Quality Quality, Quality Stocks, Quiet Giant, Reuters, Rigor Mortis, Skepticism, Underweight
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A simple strategy to make change happen

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

This week I began a series of half day workshops addressing opportunities for advisors in the current investor mindset.In those workshops, I tackle the number one problem for most advisors attending training sessions –  translating the ideas they get into action. I also outline some simple strategies to put new strategies in place – including the single most successful approach I’ve come across to make change happen.Note that there is seldom a problem getting enough good ideas – rather the typical issue relates to getting too many.  As a result, advisors walk away filled with good intentions – but do nothing.

Tags: Calendar, Fashion, Focus, Good Intentions, Investor, Mindset, Momentum, Odds, Sessions, Typical Issue, Weekly Goals
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Overcoming a key barrier to moving accounts

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Recent posts have focused on approaches to overcome the skepticism of today’s investors and ways to get in front of prospective clients.

In talking to advisors who have reached out to prospects, a common objection they hear to moving accounts is “I don’t want to lock in losses by selling my investments now.” Sometimes this comes up when they first talk to a prospect on the phone, on other occasions it arises during the initial meeting or when the advisor is presenting recommendations.

Here’s a step by step response if you hear “I don’t want to lock in losses” when talking to a prospective client.

Tags: Depressed Levels, Extent, Investments, Investor, Investors, Losses, Moving, Objection, Objective, Obstacle, Occasions, Paperwork, Prospective Client, Prospective Clients, Prospects, Skepticism, Step By Step, Step Response, Tension
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Guidelines for an effective mid-year letter

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Last week, U.S. discount broker Charles Schwab released a research report indicating that one in four American investors is considering changing firms or advisors, consistent with recent data on Canadian investors  open to making a move.

An interesting insight emerged when investors were asked why they might switch. The top two factors, each mentioned 32% of the time, were desire for a better fee structure and better advice. Just behind in 29% of cases where investors are contemplating a move was the desire for more proactive contact.

Tags: American Investors, Balanced Perspective, Canadian Investors, Candour, Charles Schwab, Communication, Concrete Guidance, Credibility, Desire, Discount Broker, Fee Structure, Five Keys, Frequency Contact, Insight, Investor, Platitudes, Puff Piece, Scepticism, Spike, Substantive Advice
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