Document 177810

ADVISER KNOWHOW EPISODE 22 26 MARCH 2013
HOW TO ENTERTAIN YOUR CLIENTS
ADVISER KNOWHOW EPISODE 22 26 MARCH 2013
HOW TO ENTERTAIN YOUR CLIENTS
ADVISER KNOWHOW EPISODE 22 26 MARCH 2013
ADVISER KNOWHOW
ABOUT BNY MELLON
ADVISER KNOWHOW THE WEEKLY TV
PROGRAMME FOR ADVISERS BY ADVISERS
A PROGRAMME FOR ADVISERS BY ADVISERS
BNY Mellon is a leading investment management and investment services
company, with US$1.4 trillion assets under management and more than 47,000
employees worldwide*.
Produced in association with BNY Mellon, Adviser
KnowHow is a new groundbreaking programme,
created specifically to help you and your business.
Every week we speak directly to your peers in the
industry to understand how they have addressed
some of the key issues that advisers face every
day of their working lives.
The BNY Mellon asset management model encompasses the investment skills
of world class specialist asset managers, including those from Insight, Newton,
Standish, The Boston Company Asset Management and Walter Scott ensuring our
clients benefit from market leading experts in every asset class.
HOW TO
ENTERTAIN
YOUR CLIENTS
The multi-boutique structure encourages an entrepreneurial, focused approach
to investment, ensuring our asset managers are ahead of market trends and at
the forefront of investment management.
Get involved and add your views on
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Clear, independent thinking from some of the world’s sharpest investment minds
HOW TO ENTERTAIN YOUR CLIENTS
Building a close and trusting relationship with your clients is vital for any
financial adviser. With an increasing focus on financial life planning over
product selling, knowing your clients’ hobbies and passions can help you
understand your clients better and, ultimately, provide a better service.
But, how do you best do this, and how do you make sure you avoid the pitfalls?
KEY POINTS
Contact BNY Mellon:
tel: 0500 66 00 00 email: [email protected] web: www.bnymellonam.co.uk
1 Target your events so they are specific to your clients’ hobbies or pastimes
2 Have a variety of different events for different purposes
3 Be careful with your budget
4 Reward loyal clients
Important Information
TRANSCRIPT – This is a financial promotion for Professional Clients and/or distributors only. This is not intended as investment advice. The value of investments and the income
from them is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise due to stock market and currency movements. When you sell your investment you may get back less than you originally
invested. Any views and opinions contained in this document are those of the individual as at the date of issue, are subject to change, do not represent the views of BNY Mellon
Asset Management International Limited and should not be taken as investment advice. BNY Mellon Asset Management International Limited (BNYMAMI) and its affiliates are
not responsible for any subsequent investment advice given based on the information supplied. This document may not be used for the purpose of an offer or solicitation in any
jurisdiction or in any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful or not authorised. Unless otherwise noted, all references to total assets under management (AUM)
(which are approximate), provided by The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, are as of 30 September 2012*. AUM for The Boston Company Asset Management, EACM Advisors,
Mellon Capital Management Corporation and Standish Mellon Asset Management Company LLC includes assets managed by those individual firms’ officers as associated persons,
dual officers or employees of The Dreyfus Corporation. In addition, AUM / OUM for the following firms may include assets managed by them as non-discretionary investment
manager for, or by the individual firms’ officers as dual officers or employees of, The Bank of New York Mellon: The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC, The Dreyfus Corporation
and its BNY Mellon Cash Investment Strategies division, Mellon Capital Management Corporation, Newton Capital Management Limited (part of The Newton Group), Standish
Mellon Asset Management Company LLC, and Urdang Securities Management, Inc. AUM includes BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Ankura Capital and external data. This
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issued in the UK and in mainland Europe (excluding Germany) by BNY Mellon Asset Management International Limited, BNY Mellon Centre, 160 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V
4LA. Registered in England No. 1118580. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. In Germany, this document is issued by Meriten Investment Management
GmbH (formerly named WestLB Mellon Asset Management Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH, which is regulated by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht. Meriten
Investment Management GmbH is wholly owned by The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. If Meriten Investment Management GmbH (MIM) receives any rebates on the
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of the publication of this presentation. BNYMAMI and any other BNY Mellon entity mentioned are all ultimately owned by The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.
VIDEO – This video is for Professional Clients and/or distributors only. This is not intended as investment advice. Any views and opinions contained therein are those of the
individual as at the date of issue, are subject to change, do not represent the views of BNY Mellon Asset Management International Limited and should not be taken as investment
advice. BNY Mellon Asset Management International Limited (BNYMAMI) and its affiliates are not responsible for any subsequent investment advice given based on the information
supplied. This video may not be used for the purpose of an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction or in any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful or not
authorised. This video is issued in the UK and in mainland Europe (excluding Germany) by BNYMAMI, BNY Mellon Centre, 160 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4LA. Registered in
England No. 1118580. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. In Germany, this is issued by Meriten Investment Management GmbH (formerly named WestLB
Mellon Asset Management Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH, which is regulated by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht. Meriten Investment Management GmbH is
wholly owned by The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. CP9434-17-01-2013(6M) 21165 02/13
*As at September 30, 2012
ADVISER KNOWHOW EPISODE 22 26 MARCH 2013
HOW TO ENTERTAIN YOUR CLIENTS
ADVISER KNOWHOW EPISODE 22 26 MARCH 2013
KEY POINTS
PROGRAMME TRANSCRIPT
KEY POINTS FROM THIS
WEEK’S ADVISER KNOWHOW
FEATURING AN INTERVIEW
WITH LEE ROBERTSON OF
INVESTMENT QUORUM
“We try to choose something
that’s different, that our
clients wouldn’t normally go
to.”
1
3
¬¬ You should always put your clients’ needs at the
front of organising any event and make sure it is
something they will enjoy - entertaining clients
should be entertaining, you do not want them to
feel as though you have wasted their time and
money on activities that do not interest them.
¬¬ Ask your clients what they want to do and make
it happen and match certain events to certain
clients; don’t organise an annual rugby match
when half of your clients are female and not
into sports but organise two events and cater
accordingly
2
HAVE A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT EVENTS FOR
DIFFERENT PURPOSES
¬¬ If you have three varied events: a drinks event, a
sporting event and a seminar you will get to know
your clients in various scenarios and situations
and understand them better and build a stronger
relationship.
¬¬ Seminars and workshops may not always excite
your clients but, equally, only having drinks events
could be unproductive and only prompt ‘social’
conversations which don’t help you build your
business better.
¬¬ Mix one-on-one events with big group events.
One-on-one events make clients feel special
and they enable a stronger bond of trust and
understanding. Big group events promote clients
talking to each other and possibly doing business
with each other and creates a community
BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR BUDGET
¬¬ Establish an annual budget on how much you can
afford to spend on entertaining clients. Lavish
dinners are not necessary and it is important to
be sensible to your own budget
¬¬ Clients will be wary if they think you are spending
their money on frivolous or extravagant events
and will be incredibly cost sensitive in the new
post-RDR world. Clients could easily mistake
firms showing off their financial success as
wasting their money.
4
REWARD LOYAL CLIENTS
¬¬ Use entertainment as a way to reward your clients’
loyalty, whether it is referring other clients on or
staying with your firm for many years, as it will
make the client feel trusted, respected and valued.
This week we’re talking about how
and why you should entertain your
clients. Building a close and trusting
relationship with your clients is vital for
any financial adviser. With an increasing
focus on financial life planning over
product selling, knowing your clients’
hobbies and passions can help you
understand your clients better, and
ultimately provide a better service.
But, how do you best do this? And
how do you make sure that you avoid
the pitfalls? Here with me now is
Lee Robertson, chief executive at
Investment Quorum. But before we
speak to him, let’s look at how other
advisers across the country entertain
their clients.
VOX POPS
What client entertainment events do
you host?
RICHARD RANDALL, AV Trinity
We have done the traditional golf days.
But we tried to look a little differently at
things more recently, over the last few
years. We now do a sailing day for clients
that works very well.
DUNCAN HANNAY ROBERTSON, Hannay
Robertson
For one of my clients, we asked about
their holidays and they said they
were quite interested in going on a
train journey because they had seen
Michael Portillo on television. I knew
ADVISER KNOWHOW EPISODE 22 26 MARCH 2013
Lee Robertson, Investment Quorum
Richard Randall, AV Trinity
Michael Portillo was coming to the local
Cambridge word festival, and so I got
tickets for them and invited them along
to that, and we had lunch afterwards, so
that was very enjoyable. That was quite
targeted. The other event that we had
was up in the jockey club in Newmarket.
We try to choose something that’s
different, that our clients wouldn’t
normally go to.
if you have [unintelligible] clients, but
you’re taking them to a Michelin star
restaurant, it doesn’t link together. So
your clients are always thinking, how are
you spending their money. You’ve got to
be seen to be spending it wisely.
What is the benefit in entertaining
clients?
JUN MERRETT, reporter, New Model
Adviser
So, Lee, when did you first decide to
entertain your clients and what was the
thinking behind this?
RICHARD RANDALL
It’s a way of getting closer to our
clients. Of course we want clients to
go away thinking all the better of us
and hopefully for referrals. Ostensibly
it is to get clients realising something
about the charities that we support and
hopefully for them to start supporting
those charities as well.
DUNCAN HANNAY ROBERTSON
Well, the key benefit clearly is building
on that relationship and you know, when
you’re in a seminar, people don’t really
get to talk to each other, but when you
go down to the pub, everyone completely
opens up, and it’s the same kind of
thing. You really get to know people over
a drink.
What are the pitfalls when hosting
client entertainment events?
Duncan Hannay Robertson
You’ve got to pitch it; you’ve got to
mirror and match. You’ve got to match
your events to your clients, because
an economist speak, or a fund manager.
So it’s part educational and they get
a nice breakfast. It’s a nice way to mix
with them. Professional connections
(solicitors and accountants) particularly
like that because they can bring clients
of theirs along as well.
END OF VOX POPS
LEE ROBERTSON
Advisors are in a very privileged and
interesting position. They’ve got
relatively low numbers of clients that
they get to know extremely well. It’s
a nice thing to be able to do. To have
clients you like and to entertain them.
JUN MERRETT
What kind of things do you do for your
clients? How do you entertain them?
LEE ROBERTSON
It’s mixed and varied, I think. There’s
always a regular series of lunches that
go on, either with a specific client or
with a small group of clients. The big
thing – our centrepiece - has always
been the advocates breakfast club.
It’s for a select group of clients who’ve
been very good to us, who refer to us;
real advocates for the business. We get
them together bi-monthly and we have
HOW TO ENTERTAIN YOUR CLIENTS
“You can go too far, but I
think to meet with your
clients in a completely social
environment, is incredibly
powerful”
“It’s a way of getting closer to
our clients. Of course we want
clients to go away thinking all
the better of us and hopefully
for referrals. ”
Duncan Hannay Robertson,
Hannay Robertson
TARGET YOUR EVENTS SO THEY ARE SPECIFIC TO
YOUR CLIENTS’ HOBBIES OR PASTIMES
HOW TO ENTERTAIN YOUR CLIENTS
JUN MERRETT
Great. And what’s the benefit to
entertaining your clients? Do they like
it? Do they enjoy it?
LEE ROBERTSON
They tell us that they do. I think there’s
a line to be drawn here. You can go too
far, but I think to meet with your clients
in a completely social environment, not
part of the process of financial advice or
investment management or any of that,
is incredibly powerful. You get to know
them very well, socially. Clients can
interact with other clients, and that’s
been a benefit that we’ve seen – clients
end up doing business with each other
because they’ve met at these social
events that we’ve run.
JUN MERRETT
How do you avoid the pitfall of
potentially having clients think that
you’re using their money, using
their fees and spending it on these
‘lavish’ lunches and so on? Do you ever
get that confrontation from clients?
LEE ROBERTSON
You’ve obviously never been to one of
my lunches – they aren’t that lavish!
[laughs]. We’ve never had a pushback
from a client on this. It’s not that we’re
flying them to Paris; it’s a lunch in a
decent restaurant, where it’s totally
non-threatening. The big spend that
we did was on our tenth birthday party,
where about a third of our clients came,
and we’re very privileged that they did.
They came to the Barbican, we had this
huge party; in fact some people from
Citywire were there. That was our big
spend, but we wanted to mark ten years.
But unfortunately that’s all we’ve got
time for.
JUN MERRETT
What are the potential challenges about
entertaining your clients? I mean how
far is too far?
Or you can find the link and add your
views at @AdviserKnowHow on Twitter.
LEE ROBERTSON
I don’t know. I think it’s difficult for an
intermediary-type firm, an advisorytype firm to go too far.
We don’t have investment bank budgets,
where you fly clients around the globe to
sporting events, etcetera. I think if you
are sensible with it, it’s decent lunches,
it’s decent sporting events and you
don’t over-cater. I think it’s quite hard
to go too far. You’ve also go to bear in
mind that the clients are incredibly cost
and charge sensitive at the moment,
particularly with the RDR etcetera. So
I think there is a line to be drawn, but
common sense tends to dictate. If you
know your clients well, you know what
they would accept.
JUN MERRETT
Great, well, thanks so much for your
time Lee, it’s been great talking to you.
LEE ROBERTSON
Thank you.
JUN MERRETT
You can download the fact file for
this week’s edition at citywire.co.uk/
adviserknowhow or
bnymellonam.co.uk/adviserknowhow.