To Educate, Not Sell

In an industry where most are focused on driving sales and pitching products, investors have a challenging question to answer—who can I trust? While many view today’s financial services landscape as one wrought with peril and dubious intentions, it is helpful to think about how far we’ve come while still recognizing the important work ahead.

Thirty plus years ago, a few pioneers were brave enough to strike out on their own. They eschewed the traditional Wall Street, commission-based sales approach and created a new service model: one that focused on sitting on the same side of the table as the client.

Jeff Buckner, who founded Plancorp in 1983, was one of these industry leaders, and I’ve been fortunate to count him as a career-long mentor and partner. Jeff started Plancorp with a simple premise: that people should have access to high-quality advice tied not to the sale of a product, but rather to providing the right solution in the client’s best interest.

Fiduciaries First

Today, Plancorp has been joined by thousands of fee-only advisory firms that also adhere to the fiduciary standard of client care. While politicians and regulators continue to battle over a Fiduciary Standard, Plancorp remains focused on our core beliefs:

• Put the client’s interests first
• Proactively advocate for clients in all areas of their financial life
• Provide independent, objective financial advice
• Exceed client expectations

To truly help clients, we must first get to know them, what makes them tick and, of course, what they want to achieve.

It is impossible to build an appropriate investment strategy without knowing what goals a client is driving towards. Goals-based investing ensures alignment between clients’ objectives and our advice, and it allows us to educate them every step of the way. We firmly believe that if you give people good information, they will make great decisions.

Your Plan Should Be Personal

Imagine hiring a personal trainer and showing up day one to find a completely built out training routine. Your trainer puts you through 60 minutes of rigorous exercises, sells you a diet plan, and sends you on your way. On the way out she assures you you’re on the road to a new, healthy life.

I have to believe many would find this scenario puzzling. How did the trainer know what exercises to recommend—does she know about my bad knee? And this diet, is it designed to help build muscle? Lose fat? What is the goal?

Good personal trainers appreciate the need to get to know their clients before giving them advice and building a routine. We believe a good financial advisor should do the same—and then some.

The Value of a Hybrid Model

In today’s world, many don’t even consider using a personal trainer. They have a fitness tracker to help guide them and build out their personalized routines. In much the same way, the financial industry has come to market with several robo options to help investors build a portfolio.

While today’s robos have done a fine job of building attractive sites and apps, they still lack the context of the client’s goals. Generally, a client has only to answer a few questions, such as income, age, net worth and risk appetite. Then, BAM—she has a “ready-made” portfolio.

BrightPlan provides more than a quick questionnaire. It guides clients through a goal-setting process that gives a true sense for who they are and how they envision their futures.

These insights become our compass for making portfolio recommendations. And if clients feel they need some extra help to sort through their goals or deal with complex questions, Plancorp’s experienced advisors are happy to help.

This hybrid, goals-based model is not simply another idea. It is a modern-day extension of the fiduciary care that Jeff and his fellow fee-only pioneers created decades ago. Investing outside of a goals-based framework will get you somewhere, but it may not be where you want to go.

This goal setting process is not new to the high net worth and ultra-high net worth markets. Using technology to democratize the service is just the next major evolution of the fiduciary care everyone deserves. It may also make that question—who can I trust?—that much easier to answer.