by Carl Roberts
At the core of great financial planning is the financial plan itself and the investment recommendations that fit with the plan. This is not the end of the job however. Once the foundations are in place it's important that the ‘extras' are taken care of.
Sometimes, the extras may be all a client needs, especially as more of them move to one-off advice.
So what are the extra services an adviser can provide that not only can earn you additional revenue but provide the client with a more tailored service?
This area of financial planning is likely to benefit the younger clients, a growing market over the next few years. Having said that, even the most experienced, older and perhaps wealthier clients can benefit from another pair of eyes and training in different approaches to managing money.
Even if your current clients don't require coaching they might appreciate you passing on your skills to their children.
We like to work with families. When the clients feel their children are old enough, we encourage participation in our meetings. A lot of our clients are building legacies for their children but they want them to inherit good money skills, not just a load of money.
In the past advisers would have earned good money recommending insurance products. But now insurance is often forgotten about in place of the juicier investment business. However, without protection in place, a financial plan is built on sand.
Where we see a lot of clients requiring protection is in relation to their business. These types of clients may not have much in liquid assets to manage as their wealth is stored in their business.
A lot of the business owners we have worked may already have life cover in place but have not thought about what happens to their business shares if they were not around.
Shareholder protection, key person protection along with relevant life cover are all great insurance that not only protect your client but also pay a good income to the adviser. The commission could even be paid monthly over a number of years like a retainer fee giving you a bit more certainty.
Most clients still probably think that the best place to update their will is with a solicitor. But surely a financial adviser is best placed to know the client's assets and what they want out of their life. This includes what happens at the end of it or when things go wrong.
That's why working with a good will writer will ensure financial advisers can offer massive extra value to the client.
I recently worked with a client who had a very good DB pension and was comfortable managing his investment portfolio. What he really wanted was to ensure his wealth stayed within the family. He wanted to help out his son buy a house but didn't want his gift to be lost on a potential future divorce.
We therefore set up a trusts alongside insurance policies to not only protect his wealth but also cover the future inheritance tax bill too.
Estate planning is a complex area most clients are not going to have the time or skills to do themselves. Helping your clients with estate planning provides high value to them while earning for you.
As I've said before, advisers need to adapt to the changing market landscape. Think outside the box when it comes to services and at the end of the day give the client what they want.
Carl Roberts is a Managing Director and Chartered Financial Planner at RTS Financial Planning. Read his full profile here.
The views expressed in this article are that of this author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Voyant.
