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Clearly there is an opportunity for advisors to leverage Batman’s uncanny ability to adapt and prepare.
He first jumped from the DC comic books to television in 1966 as America’s “Caped Crusader.” For three years and 120 episodes, Batman (a.k.a. Bruce Wayne) captivated our youth with his relentless pursuit of the world’s most notorious supervillains. Each week at the episode’s conclusion, Batman left his viewers holding their breath in anticipation of how he would escape certain death or being unmasked.
With Hollywood’s insatiable appetite for re-booting and re-energizing our favorite comic book heroes of the past, Millennials and Gen X-Y-Zers have had an opportunity to appreciate Batman’s ability to adapt and prepare for anything his adversaries throw at him (maybe with a few more special effects and 3D graphics than I remember from the original series in the 1960s). Over the years, his utility belt was equipped with over 45 at-the-ready, unique solutions to defeat his enemy’s most diabolical threats.
Herein lies the lesson for today’s financial advisor. Adapt and prepare. The proliferation of index funds, SMAs, TAMPs and robo-advisors, have led many to believe the business of asset management is becoming commoditized. Advisor fees are being compressed, flat versus asset-based fees are on the horizon and clients and prospects are demanding their advisor bring additional value beyond simply picking investments, asset allocation and money managers.
A recent study by the Spectrem Group indicated that over 90% of clients expected the following services from their advisor:
- Wealth transfer advice
- Trust services
- Estate planning advice
- Tax planning advice
- Philanthropic advice
Remarkably, the study concluded that less than 25% of clients were receiving those services from their advisor.
Advisors need not be experts in any of those disciplines. However, much like Batman’s utility belt, they do need access to solutions for these questions when the moment arises. Here are the “go-to” answers that should be in every advisor’s utility belt:
- An “advisor friendly” trust company that will allow you to manage your client’s trust assets on your preferred custodial platform when they are passed to their heirs;
- Recommended trust language that will ensure you continue to manage your client’s assets if they become incapacitated;
- A local trust and estate attorney who will incorporate you into the client’s estate plan as the client’s preferred advisor upon death or incapacitation;
- A local CPA who can assist you and your client’s in identifying opportunities for tax planning and optimization;
- A donor-advised fund provider that will allow you to manage assets in the account when contributed;
- A consultant who can provide flexible products and solutions for long-term care and life insurance needs; and
- Banking and lending services that will not threaten your investment management relationship with the client.
If the advisor is not positioned to actively address these needs, the client will often find someone who is. In many cases they will be eager replace the advisor’s role in managing the client’s assets.
In essence, this is all about advisors creating a trusted circle of centers of influence (COIs) and subject matter experts (SMEs) who will allow them to respond immediately and proactively to clients concerns outside the realm of ETFs, IRRs and ROI (Holy acronyms, Batman!).
Armed with their own utility belt, advisors who are prepared for these cliff-hanger moments will ensure their chance to be around for the next episode.
As a founding member of one of the original advisor friendly independent trust companies in 1991 and widely considered a pioneer in this rapidly expanding arena, Mike Flinn consults with advisors in the strategies and questions necessary to engage clients in the successor trustee dialogue. During his career, he has enabled advisors to capture and manage over $5 billion in new trust assets.
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