Page 6 - Newcom

client conversations
What are you
investing in to ensure future business success?
Sue Derlago
Vice-president and senior financial planner, Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management,
Calgary, Alta.
We’ve significantly invested in our digital presence. Enhancing our website and search engine optimization (SEO) tools, including working with an external partner
to ensure high SEO rankings, has led to a consistent inflow of clients and referrals from high-net-worth individuals.
Additionally, we’ve invested in specific areas of expertise within our team so we can provide a higher level of co-ordinated advice.
A few years ago, our clients’ needs shifted to include more risk management and estate planning, so we hired a tax and estate practi- tioner. Making the decision to hire and strengthen our own specialties has contributed to our growth.
Why extroverts
have all the money
A personality test can tell us about retirement planning
Advisors trying to anticipate clients’ portfolio withdrawal rates in retire- ment often rely on technical details. There are scenarios to run based on decades of market history and economic data, com- bined with client’s savings, debt and retire- ment goals.
“The Psychology of Portfolio Withdrawal Rates,” by Sarah Asebedo and Christopher Browning of Texas Tech University, was
published online in Psychology and Aging in November 2019.
Serena Cheng
Director of wealth management
and investment advisor, Richardson GMP, Toronto, Ont.
I’m investing in communication: carefully consid- ering clients’ needs and communicating those needs on our website. We boil down complex investing
concepts to make them understandable to anyone. For example, we talk about intergenerational wealth and wealth transfer. No matter what stage of life you’re in, we want to make sure there’s something you can relate to or find value in. That way, anyone who doesn’t know my team or the depth of our work can understand what we do.
We regularly speak at events and talk to millennials and women who work in capital markets. We also do podcasts on an ad-hoc basis, and post regularly to LinkedIn and Instagram.
Gardy Frost
Financial advisor, Arbutus Financial Services, Vancouver, B.C.
I’m investing in people, because the team is the most important ingredient to success. When you find people who share your values, the work is easier and more fun, which makes us more successful. We do this by get-
ting to know people before bringing them on. For example, we have a rigorous onboarding process that includes third-party interviewers. Also, trusting your gut is crucial when you meet someone. — Maddie Johnson
More creative ways to predict lifespans may also become mainstream in the coming years, contributing to more personalized assumptions.
In the meantime, personality tests could be another revealing input.
In a paper published last fall, researchers from Texas Tech University applied the “big five” personality traits (see page 7) — which are known to affect consumer behaviour —
to retirement withdrawal rates. The authors found that certain personalities — extroverts with a positive outlook, for example — are bet- ter savers than those who are more neurotic.
Withdrawal rates in retirement are com- monly viewed through the life cycle hypothesis,
the paper said. This theory predicts lifetime household consumption based on accumulat- ing assets while working and spending those assets in retirement at a constant rate, accord- ing to consumption goals. The theory assumes retirees spend a set amount each year based on a percentage of assets.
That’s not how it works in practice, though. The authors pointed to research showing portfolios holding steady or even growing in retirement, rather than shrinking. This led them to consider behavioural explan- ations, namely the psychological factors that influence retirement spending.
Authors Sarah Asebedo and Christopher Browning analyzed psychological and
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FEBRUARY 2020