Every individual should have a set of principles to live by. Every business should have a set of values they place above all else. It is the most basic way to provide a north star so that when ever you find yourself straying off course, you can course correct by relating everything to said principles and values.
What’s fascinating about these things is that they should also appear relatively easily. If you can’t quickly espouse what your principles or values are…you probably aren’t living by them. When I thought about what my core values would be as a business, it took all of about one minute to determine what they were.
Integrity. Knowledge. Responsiveness.
Integrity for me was described by my grandfather early in life. I remember vividly at a prayer meeting he was attending when he described integrity as “doing the right thing when nobody is looking”. This to me boils down the word to its truest form. If we were to poll wealth management and financial planning firms, I would certainly hope that integrity would be at the top of everyone’s list. Our client’s goals…aspirations…dreams are placed in our hands. Unfortunately just because someone talks the talk, it doesn’t of course mean that they will always act accordingly. This leads me to my next core value…knowledge.
Our industry has an immense amount of information asymmetry. For a long time now consumers have selected their advisors not because they had all the necessary information at hand to perform a proper review, but because they either had a friend who said they were great, or because a sales person found them at the right time. If consumers had a sufficient amount of knowledge when it comes to portfolio management and financial planning, their pursuit of finding someone to offload these responsibilities would be much easier. Instead, information asymmetry prohibits such a thing from occurring. I feel this is changing however with the internet and rapid sharing of information. Consumers will be able to make better judgements as time goes on when selecting professional service providers. Until then, it’s my opinion that working with a Certified Financial Planner is a consumer’s best bet at finding someone with both knowledge and integrity. While there are phenomenal advisors without this mark, it is the best base line for helping a consumer find a proficient and ethical advisor.
Finally I opted for responsiveness because it’s always been a personal pet peeve of mine. Across all industries I’ve always found the best will be responsive and dependable, regardless of how busy they are. If you can’t give immediate attention to something important, at minimum relay a message to give the timeline in which you will.
Underpromise. Over deliver.
When you combine these values and you find someone at a firm that keeps them top of mind and practices what they preach, you will get an optimal result.
