5 Down-Market Opportunities for Advisors to Consider
In today’s episode of “The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast”, a podcast from the Horizon Advisor Network, hosts Bill Bush and Chad Soileau talk about the opportunities that advisors may have given the current market conditions. They go through the list of five down-market opportunities for advisors to improve their practices now.
Episode Highlights
01:10 – Chad says there are opportunities around every corner. If you're new or may have been around for a while or maybe at the end of your practice, there are always opportunities in every situation.
03:00 - The idea of being first to reach out to your clients, when things get ugly, instead of having them call you, a lot of clients appreciate that, regardless of if it's good or bad news.
05:00 – We need to start and see how far we've come in and change that perspective to the client of like that this will pass and this creates opportunities, says Chad.
06:55 – Bill states that their second point or opportunity in a downturn market would be to introduce alternative ideas and offerings to their practice.
09:10 - We've had several advisors in the network itself who historically did a lot of the portfolio construction and management more like a Fund Manager.
11:10 – Bill mentions you also need to be cognizant about what else is happening out there with the advisors that are not being proactive.
13:15 – Chad states that they do a really good job of communicating with their clients, and with all the different groups of people they want to tell their stories.
15:20 – Bill tells Chad to talk about the number five opportunity which is ‘Increasing Your Knowledge Base’.
17:30 – This is a good time for reflection, and a good time to take action. Downturns are never fun for anybody but certainly some opportunities. Difficult times always bring opportunities; you just have to look for them, says Chad.
Three Key Points
Chad thinks that proving your worth and galvanizing your relationship with your clients is one of the things that we always do as advisors. We know our worth, and we believe in ourselves but in an up-market when things are going well it's not so hard to kind of prove your worth. It's whenever the market takes a turn that becomes a little difficult and it is where you pay your dues in a sense of having the opportunity to show your clients while you're here showing them your expertise and your knowledge in the market. Such things paint a good picture for you as the advisor.
They all independently came up with one thing that was consistent with each one of their speeches and it was that if you're not doing financial planning yet then probably this is the perfect time to do it. However, in markets like this that are a little difficult, if it's been more transaction airy in its nature, bringing the financial planning aspect into it kind of sets them apart from a lot of other advisors who are maybe not bringing that into their practice and it helps them along as well to whenever they're talking about returns and market conditions.
The fourth opportunity for the advisors could be Acquisition and Book Management. So there could be an opportunity to hear that this is not a good opportunity. That this is one of the best times you can probably do that because again, advisors who are maybe kind of at the sun setting of their career, difficult times like this are some of the best times to start reaching out because compliance is getting a little bit more difficult. If you're looking for those opportunities, especially in markets like we have right now, you may find that you're going to have a lot more opportunities and success while finding someone that may be willing to have a good conversation with you about secession. Being introspective at this time is also a good time to do that too.
Tweetable Quotes
“I'm one of the board members of the Financial Planners Association of Louisiana and I was a panel speaker a few weeks ago.” – Chad Soileau
“No. 1 is to prove your worth and galvanize your relationships with your clients.” – Bill Bush
“Clients are always looking for kind of your tone, it's kind of what the young child with a parent.” – Chad Soileau
“They're looking for confidence, they're looking for reassurance, they're looking at what is their path?” - Chad Soileau
“I think that Risk Mitigation is one of, if you go back to our Horizons Process, we have the financial major which is one of the Seven Pillars of that.” – Bill Bush
“We're looking to help people and a lot of people are looking for answers right now, and we can facilitate that.” – Chad Soileau
“Now we do podcasts here, but there are blogs, there are newsletters, emails, videos, and all types of those.” – Bill Bush
“So, what better time to start doing this now, and start kind of looking at what can I change for next year?” - Chad Soileau
