The selection of wealth advisers concerns more than objective, measurable qualities.
While criteria such as education, fee structure, past performance, the reputation of the firm they work for are all important, ultimately, finding the right wealth adviser is a matter of personal “fit.” After all, you and your family will hopefully be working with this person closely over many years and potentially over several generations. Things tend to go more smoothly if you can get along.
Let’s assume that you’ve done your homework and found a wealth adviser with considerable experience working with high-net-worth business owners, a superlative professional reputation and a solid track record of past performance. How can you tell whether that professional is a good “fit” for you?
Here are some strategic questions that can unlock an adviser’s inner feelings about wealth and wealth management. These questions can give you the inside edge on understanding whether the professional is one you can work with.
In any business, the enthusiasm of the personnel often determines the success of the enterprise. This is especially true of financial professionals. Business owners and other high-net-worth individuals need a passionate, enthusiastic professional working with them – someone who exhibits an unusual excitement for what he or she does. While you don’t necessarily want to work with someone who’s chained to his or her desk, you do want to work with someone who still enjoys the job.
Let me be clear about this: business owners and other high-net-worth individuals need more than a stock picker. What you’re looking for is a professional who can see the big picture – someone who can oversee your finances and co-ordinate effective strategies to overcome your personal financial challenges. Ask the professional you’re sitting with to talk to you about what he or she does for clients, and why. If you hear a lot of talk about performance, about market events and about sophisticated, complex financial theories, be on your guard. If, on the other hand, the person talks about goals, lifestyle and security, then you might have a real candidate.
Past successes shape expectations for the future; the same can be said for past failures. Ask candidates about the good and bad things they’ve done with their own money. This can be a valuable tool in understanding an adviser’s “philosophy” of wealth management, and the rationale that underlies the advice he or she provides to clients. It can also be a useful screening question. If the adviser has made decisions in the past radically opposed to your own values – and rather than regretting those decisions, celebrates them – there could be problems down the road.
I believe the best wealth advisers are real people. They’re enthusiastic, professional and committed to doing their jobs in the best way they can. But they also have lives outside the office. They have families. They have interests, passions, hobbies that have nothing to do with work. They care about their communities and are committed to improving them. They respect the power of wealth, but they also understand that wealth is about more than just money. They’re in the business of changing people’s lives for the better. That’s what they offer you, and they’re not afraid to tell you that. Ultimately, that’s the kind of person you want to work with, regardless of what initials are tacked behind his or her name.