Change the benchmark, change the relationship.
Market benchmarks will always play a role in performance reporting and investment strategy. But if the focus of your client discovery, discussions and reviews is a different set of benchmarks, the nature of the relationship changes.
In fact, it can shift in favour of the client’s true priorities and the full scope of your value as an advisor.
For each of your clients, more consequential than quarterly performance relative to the S&P could be personal benchmarks like:
- Meeting education savings targets
- Staying on track to retiring at 60
- Generating consistent income that helps sustain their lifestyle
- Taking two vacations a year
- Maintaining a healthy work-life balance
It’s not just about discussing life goals here and there. It’s about structuring key interactions around the client’s personal benchmarks, with investment performance as just one of several factors involved in surpassing those benchmarks.
So consider how you help clients define their priorities at the beginning of the relationship, how you track their progress and the tools you bring to bear to help them “outperform.”
No one beats the market with 100% consistency. But with a focus on client benchmarks, you can offer a continuous level of tangible value through the entirety of the relationship.
