According to deVere, 38% of 483 existing and potential clients surveyed over the past month said that a firm’s track record mattered most to them, while 32% cited “an in-depth knowledge on a broad array of financial matters”.
Another 19% looked for a “hands-on approach to their financial planning strategy”, and another 11% cited other such other factors as cost transparency and “personal rapport”.
For their information about an advisory firm’s track record, the survey revealed, “most clients” cited “trusted colleagues, friends and relatives” as their source.
The survey was conducted in-house by deVere, via email and over the telephone.
More knowledge expected
Nigel Green, deVere Group founder and chief executive, noted that the global financial crisis of 2008 had made the second-most cited criterion revealed in the survey – a “comprehensive understanding of financial matters” – more important to clients than it had been previously.
“Today’s financial adviser is, quite rightly, expected to have a wider, contextual insight of investments, markets and other external economic factors, and then be able to apply that knowledge to successfully implement a well-crafted financial strategy for their clients”.
Similar concerns also underlie these clients’ increasing insistence on a more “hands-on” approach, Green added.
“With this ‘hands-on’ approach in mind, many of our clients told us that they would, again to my mind quite rightly, be less than impressed if their financial adviser did not return their calls within a few hours,” Green said.
As reported, the deVere Group, which calls itself the world’s largest independent advisory firm specialising in looking after expatriates, last month announced it was launching what it said would be a “comprehensive, six-month strategic review” of its global operations. However, this survey was not a part of this.
