Charging an assets under management fee is standard in financial planning. But Carl Roberts of RTS Financial Planning chooses to eschew standard. Instead of a typical AUM cut, Carl's services have set monthly costs.
And that's not the other big differentiator for RTS Financial Planning: they don't have a physical central office location.
So how did Carl get here? And where does he plan on going?
Ten years ago, Carl didn't intend to be a financial adviser, although he did work behind the scenes at financial planning firm:
"I never wanted to be an adviser because I thought that was selling, and I've never been a salesman. I like to be behind the scenes."
Indeed, he wore many hats, from technical analyst to office manager. But strangely enough, the more time he spent in financial planning, the more he realized the profession was moving in a different direction. And he liked it.
Carl saw a shift from financial advisers as salesmen to playing a role more similar to a consultant. After working as a financial adviser for an established company, he decided to break away on his own, founding RTS Financial Planning.
He maintains a decentralized office, relying on technology like video chatting to communicate with his clients. Technology is not an afterthought to Carl; it is vital to his business and brand.
This tenacious focus on technology has helped him attract a plethora of clients, with an emphasis on corporate directors, who Carl suspects appreciate RTS being cutting edge and transparent with their fee structure. As mentioned prior, Carl doesn't charge an AUM fee.
And why not?
"Managing a person who has £1M as opposed to £10M makes no difference because they want the same quality of advice. So why should I be paid ten times the fee?"
In general, Carl is wary of unnecessary costs, which is why rather than seek out younger or modest earners, he points them toward his educational platform: The Money Tech Coach.
The Money Tech Coach isn't a financial firm, it's Carl’s chance to inform a younger generation about how to handle their money through, you guessed it, technology. Carl doesn't want the lower earners to get caught up in unnecessary fees, which is why the Money Tech Coach is educational rather than a firm of its own.
In general, the role of "coach" appeals to Carl:
See: Tina Weeks, Life Coach at Serenity Financial Planning
"Ideally, in the future, I'd like to work more as a coach than a regulated adviser. It's a passion of mine."
In terms of technology Carl personally uses, Voyant helps him demonstrate the future to his clients and get to know them on a deeper level. He used Voyant at his prior office and continues to use it today. Voyant's visual solutions are key in keeping his clients engaged from afar:
"Voyant will make you a better adviser. It will help you explain to a client what's happening visually. I don't know how any adviser can do proper risk analysis without some form of cash flow loss capacity. That's where Voyant is so powerful. I know advisers who only do a questionnaire, to have a box ticked. There's no discussion around how [the plan] looks, or the potential downside."
As DIY solutions expand and technology flourishes, the ability to show clients their futures becomes increasingly important.
"Our value is going to be in that emotional, behavioral coaching side of planning. Planning is an intangible product. [Clients] want to know, what am I paying for?"
Proving this value is a delicate dance. It's a combination of choosing the right technology and, as Carl pointed out, utilizing it to its maximum potential to empathize with clients and keep them on the right path. He points out that clients are often averse to investing due to fear of current events, making financial planning more complex than it needs to be. The antidote for this fear: advice must be up-to-date, valuable, and cost-effective.
"The investing side of things must be as simple and low cost as possible," Carl says, "…regardless of what political shenanigans are involved."
