by Austin Garvey
We've been hearing the word unprecedented a lot in the last six weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Ireland, everyday activities we had taken for granted such as travelling to work or going to the cinema are no longer in our control. It is remarkable how something invisible has us re-evaluating how we perform basic functions such as communicating with each other and keeping our businesses functioning.
For financial advisors in particular, COVID-19 has created widespread fear which has in turn led to a sharp downturn in markets across the globe. While markets are rife with uncertainty and beginning to sharply contract, we must be in front of clients. In this environment, technology has shown its true value.
These days, communication has changed across the board. Team meetings are now virtual, the chairs at the meeting table are now in kitchens, living rooms, even sheds. I have to admit that I am a traditionalist and enjoy meeting people face to face, but the ability to keep functioning would not be possible without communicative software like Skype, Zoom and many others.
READ: Using Voyant & Webinars To Stay Connected With Your Clients
Most clients are happy with a phone call when markets are performing well, which has been the case for approximately the past decade. However, the recent market volatility now means advisors need to do more. Information and updates from product providers via webinars is vital to relay back to clients. We must provide comfort that over the long term and explain that the volatility that we are experiencing is part of a functioning market.
Internal meetings are also important from a morale perspective in the battle against work isolation. Our colleagues that we typically see every day are no longer sitting in front of us. Checking in via regular video calls keeps work relationships burning at all levels.
We recently had a team meeting (which we now do every second morning) that brought up the challenge of remaining compliant in the current landscape. Application forms, Recommendation letters, Terms of business and AML documents are part and parcel of our business and still need attention, so digital signature technology becomes a vital component of our job. We are lucky to have some absolutely fantastic administrators who we could not do our job without. For smaller practices who do not have the same resrouces, now might provide an opportunity to further streamline processes through organisation and technology and explore ways of making the administrative tasks less cumbersome.
So what are the positives that we will take out of this mammoth upheaval to our personal and working lives when it is over and well? Embracing how technology can help in extreme circumstances. We should also appreciate things that we once took for granted, like actually meeting our clients as well as having an office environment to go.
I also believe that we are building individual and corporate resilience for the next time that we hear the word ‘unprecedented' so often.
Finally, although I have waxed lyrical about technology within the financial advisory profession, I am more certain than ever that the sound of an advisor's voice or the look on her face will provide more comfort to volatility in the markets than any robo-advice application ever will.
Stay safe everyone and hopefully we (and our clients) will come through this time even stronger.
Austin is very proud to work for Grant Thornton Financial Counselling Limited based on their ethical and relationship focused philosophy. Austin is a Certified Financial Planner ® specializing in the provision of appropriate financial planning and wealth management advice to high net worth individuals, company executives, and business owners.
Austin also has experience in overseeing the management and performance of large investment portfolios for high net worth clients, regularly liaising with and reviewing the performance of fund and investment managers.
An avid fan of most sports and in particular a keen golfer, Austin has lived in Dublin for the past sixteen years with his wife and their nine year old son.
