TW // grief, loss, death
Mental Health Week highlights the importance of fostering healthy relationships for overall well-being, as positive relationships can significantly impact mental health. Whether it’s with family, friends, partners, or even coworkers, this week encourages us to pause and appreciate the connections we’ve built.
But there’s one important relationship that often gets overlooked—the one between clients and their financial advisers.
The stereotype of this relationship is often reductionist; we picture an infrequent, transactional meeting in a cold office, where the only words exchanged refer to investment propositions, financial jargon and awkward small talk.
The reality is far more complex and, crucially, human.
St. James’s Place financial adviser Carla Brown is sitting on the sofa across from her client, Louise. Louise recently lost her husband, Andy, to a fatal illness, and she describes how Carla was there for her every step of the journey.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done without her… Don’t make me cry!” Louise says, turning to Carla. “We were to-ing and fro-ing from hospitals daily, and just knowing you had everything covered…well, we didn’t have to worry.”
Carla went above and beyond her role as an adviser to ensure Louise’s finances were under control, so she could focus on being with her family. This involved ensuring that Andy’s power of attorney and will were aligned with their needs, as well as their financials to ensure everything was taken care of correctly for the family. Watch Carla’s story below…
Like Louise, many people feel that their relationship with their adviser is so much more than an exclusively transactional one.
In fact, recent research demonstrated that having a trusting relationship with their adviser is more valuable to clients than the support their adviser provides transactionally (16% vs. 6%*).
Other valued factors in a client/adviser relationship include:
As demonstrated by both the data and the story shared by Carla and Louise, relationships between clients and their financial advisers are founded on and maintained by so much more than financial gain.
Another case for the value and depth of the relationship between adviser and client is the story of SJP Partner James and his long-term client, Gary. Gary and James have worked together for over a decade, and James has seen Gary through the death of his parents, will preparation and countless investments.
He’s even provided financial support for Gary’s children, who are now clients of James’s company themselves. Gary openly refers to James as a friend, who has provided advice, not just financial, on several occasions.
Gary shares how James’s advice has evolved throughout the years to match his needs, from initial investment advice to helping him prepare his own will, power of attorney and financial situation for his children when he passes.
The depth of their relationship is a testament to the value that James has brought to Gary and his family. It’s a relationship founded on 17 years of collaboration and is far from the transactional relationship we might have first envisioned between client and adviser.
Through data and stories like these, we can understand how the trust and human layers underpin successful long term professional relationships in the financial advice sector.
Financial advisers are so much more than just investment experts or pension pros who temporarily appear in someone’s life, give them biased advice for their own profit, then disappear back to their faraway office.
Advisers are supportive, they are compassionate, they are responsible, and, through their due diligence, they make a real difference to their client’s lives. Financial wellbeing is a culmination of a nurtured relationship between client and adviser.
Now that’s a priceless relationship.
* AKG Future of advice research paper 2023.
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Check out our video interview with SJP’s Scott Stevens – “St. James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy: Your Questions Answered” below!
