Staying Relevant in Wealth Reporting

In today’s world of social media bombardment of information, how do wealth advisors stay relevant and

grab their client’s attention through reporting?

How to stay relevant:

To stay relevant, we must understand how information today is delivered and processed compared to 20,

10, even five years ago. Over the past two decades, information has been widely abundant; however, we

had to go out and seek it.

The good news, the Internet greatly improved the process of obtaining information, so we did not have to

wait for newspapers, thumb through an encyclopedia, or take a trip to the library. When we found what we

were looking for, we then had to read, decipher, and understand what was important to us.

Traditionally, wealth managers use this same process when delivering reports to clients. We gather as

much information as possible from financial institutions, fund managers, bank statements, economic

experts, etc. and then compile all this information into a report book the size of an investment prospectus;

and just as interesting. Then we may “boil it down” into a “standard” consolidated reporting package that

highlights the investment returns, cash flows, and asset allocation. However once all the information is

presented to the client, they are responsible for sifting through the information to decipher what is really

important to them.

With social media and web browsers a dramatic shift is occurring; information is now spoon fed to us and

it’s provided to us based upon our interests. When we search the web, companies gather information on

our interests and then fire back information that is directly relevant to us. This information is sent through

all areas of social media, web browsing, advertisements, and forums. After enough time, information is

provided to us based upon our entire lifestyle. If I enjoy mountain biking, mountain biking information

pops up, if I enjoy vintage cars, information on vintage cars is showing up everywhere in my searches and

social media. We no longer have to go out and seek information. Based upon our lifestyle, information is

now being put in front of us, deliberately, sometimes subliminally.

Now that we understand how information is delivered and received we can provide the information in a

way that is relevant.

Grabbing your client’s attention:

In today’s technological environment, many will debate if it’s useful to provide “on-demand” information

and reporting provided in a flexible on-line medium. One thought is, “If they have access to everything

from anywhere, they will have everything they need.” It is true, there are new technologies that allow our

clients to slice and dice their financial information any way they want, any time they want, right in the palm

of their hand. However, can this much accessibility and data be distracting? Will it hold your client’s

attention?

We must provide them with great content. We haven’t stopped watching feature films because we can

access millions of hours of video content through YouTube. In fact, more and more we are turning to non-

traditional delivery channels for our “traditional” entertainment content; Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime

have challenged established television networks, not because of the flexibility or customizability of our

entertainment choices, but simply because they have created great new content like House of Cards and

Orange Is the New Black, AND they allow us to consume this content when and how we choose; over

time or all at once; through our television, our computer or even our phone.

Like great movies, your report should create thought, feeling, and/or action. Great content will hold the

viewer’s attention regardless of length and frequency. We must evolve from just providing consolidated

data and analytics to our clients, we must become storytellers of great content revolving around the

client’s financial interests and lifestyle.

Are we using all of the information we know to report in a way that it’s relatable to a client’s current

lifestyle?

• What if we replaced asset allocation with goals based investment categories?

• What if we led with a narrative instead of a pie chart?

• What if investment returns were compared to a personal goal instead of an index?

• What if we created a financial story that is completely in line with the way our client feels, lives,

works, and thinks about money?

As a wealth manager we can now tell a financial story with a beginning, middle, and end that is 100%

relevant to our client. As a wealth manager we must;

1) Decide what story we want to tell to our client, understanding that there will be different stories for

different clients.

2) Begin telling the story we have with the resources, software and services we are currently using.

3) Once we have determined the story and information needed to create those stories, we can begin to

focus on efficiencies, which may include faster data acquisition, better analytics, integration with

other systems or broader delivery platforms.

Most top wealth managers do this when we MEET with our clients; we tell them the story we believe they

want or need to hear because we have listened to them. We have asked them what is most important

and refine our stories as our clients lives and/or interests change. But still, our reporting rarely matches

our narrative and our verbal communication.

Sometimes one or more of the “best of breed” platform providers is the best tool, other times it is a simple,

but powerful spreadsheet that tells the most compelling story. Rarely, if ever, is there a single platform

that is the “silver bullet” of wealth reporting.

Remember, the story is much more important than the tools used to create it.

Bill Ranshaw & Rick Higgins

Risclarity