A large portion of the financial advice sector is struggling under mounting compliance and governance demands, prompting some to leave the industry. While the old way of doing business is becoming less and less profitable amid higher regulatory costs, some advice firms are taking advantage of the regulatory reforms to find better solutions for their business and gain a unique competitive advantage.
The effective management of goals based investment portfolios requires strong investment skills together with ample time and resources, but in return, rewards financial advice firms with satisfied clients and superior business outcomes.
There has rarely been a more urgent time to assess whether your money is being optimally managed. Market valuations are close to all-time highs while risk levels are high and long-term real return prospects are near zero. We anticipate re-runs of 2020 over the coming years, with more volatility and markets that ultimately go nowhere.
A market correction can spell disaster for a financial planning business. Time is lost calming clients’ nerves rather than building your business, some clients may even leave after seeing their capital shrink and your income may plunge along with the market. But this is not true for all financial planning firms; some businesses thrive during weak market conditions, which provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate their value.
During market downturns, investors are commonly advised to stick with their strategic asset allocation rather than crystalise their losses in the hope that the downturn will be short lived and that returns will revert to historical norms.
The purpose of any advice business is to help its clients to achieve what they want to achieve. So, why is talking about goals-based advice seen as being 'different' from what financial planners have always done?
Sequencing risk is one of the most important things to consider when constructing your investment portfolio.
In short, advisers are more likely to succeed in meeting their client’s financial needs by adopting a Goals Based Investment (GBI) approach that encompasses dynamic asset allocation, than by following the traditional risk-based strategic asset allocation methodology that has been common practice over the previous few decades.
The premise of Goals Based Investing is to focus each investment portfolio on specific individual personal and lifestyle goals. Those goals inform the right timeframe, risk and return parameters, which in turn determine the best asset allocation and investment mix. Goals can be short-term, such as taking a holiday, medium-term, such as renovating or paying school fees, and long-term, such as saving for retirement.
