Why would anyone want to be a wealth manager given the challenges they face today? And if you happen to be one already, how on earth is it possible to be successful as a wealth manager? By Kees Stoute
The life of a wealth management practitioner today seems close to hopeless: demanding KPIs, skeptical clients, suffocating and stifling regulations, decreasing revenue margins, fierce competition, and so on.
The good news, is that it is still a great and honourable profession.
Asking the right questions
The best way to illustrate this is to consider the following two types of questions:
- Type 1: I have a great new product that I believe has the potential to deliver double-digit returns. Are you interested?
- Type 2: How much do you need for what you want to achieve in life?
As long as you stick to defining wealth management as a business aimed at confronting clients with Type 1-questions, you are destined to continue to suffer – and increasingly so! – from the above-mentioned joy-killing factors. Defining private wealth management as ‘selling financial products to the rich’ is no fun and will rapidly become irrelevant.
Take some time to consider what it means to ask Type-2 questions instead.
Rather than selling a product, focus on your client’s life, as you realise that managing wealth means helping individuals to ensure that their wealth is instrumental in achieving their life goals. And you, the wealth manager, have the knowledge, experience and time to do so professionally, much better than most clients can do themselves.
There are two ‘secrets’ to getting there:
1) You need to be aware of the trend in wealth management and of what it means and what it takes to be successful. Such awareness forms an indispensable foundation for your personal development and serves as a guide leading you to the sweet-spot in our industry. Awareness of the knowledge, experience and skills needed to succeed – given the trends in the industry – forms an indispensable foundation for relevant personal development towards becoming a successful wealth management professional.
2) Being aware is one thing. At least as important is that you take responsibility for creating your own success. It is tempting to blame management, regulators, clients, spouses, etc for not being able to progress in life. The reality, however, is that those who consider themselves victims in this world hardly ever find the motivation and energy needed to change their fate. In a recent interview with Ronaldo, a world-class soccer player, he was questioned about all the trainers he had worked with throughout his career. In this context, they asked him at the end of the interview: “Who was mostly responsible for your successful career?” His answer was simple: “I am.”
If you are aware what it means and what it takes to be successful as a wealth manager and take full responsibility for the journey towards that success, you will most likely experience that becoming a successful wealth management professional is not only possible, but also fulfilling, rewarding and enjoyable.
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