After Trump Win:  An Opportunity for Advisors to Lead

The Trump win in the US provides an opportunity for professional financial advisors and their clients to come together and review strategies for meeting financial goals in anticipation of global change.  Having a great Plan “A” for financial decision-making is critical anytime; but in times of great change a smart and insightful Plan “B” can make all the difference in getting the right long term results.

What changes to current planning, if any, should be discussed immediately?  Which should be executed upon?  What are the tax consequences of any actions taken?

Advisors who are proactive about contacting their clients over the next several weeks will retain the trust and confidence of their clients as they manage required changes, or as important, recommend that that right thing to do may be nothing at all in the short term.

This was the topic of conversation at the Distinguished Advisor Conference this week, which drew to a close the day after the election in San Diego.  Commentary from some of Canada’s most distinguished experts and political commentators empowered the audience of more than 180 delegates in attendance.

Jeffrey Simpson, recently retired national political columnist for the Globe and Mail was particularly insightful as he described how new protectionism may translate into major economic disruptors as NAFTA, NATO, TPP, lumber agreements and other important agreements are potentially reviewed or torn up.

Morningstar’s Steve Wendell, underscored what’s at stake in the coming months:  the possibility of panic and how advisors need to respond to this, reminding the audience that your moment of strength in situations like this, are in your face to face meetings with clients.  Your moments of weakness, however, are anytime financial advice is taken from news media or other influencers who don’t reflect the values and beliefs of the investor.  It’s important, therefore, to make appointments to visit, soon.

Caroline Ouellette, four-time gold medalist and captain of the Canadian Women’s Hockey Team hit it all home with her observation that the best players in the world are consistent, stay in the moment and focused on what can be done next to achieve the goals you have set out with and for your clients.  Success, she said, favors the prepared.

To that end, in reflecting on your continued mandate of improvement, needed to meet the challenges of changing world events, the conference offered ten solutions for managing key disruptors ahead:

• Know More:            Analyze and understand the latest tax & economic changes
• Strategize More:    Set new goals for conducting your business
• Scale Up:                Use technology to reach more clients, prepare for meeting time
• Relationships:       Take more time to listen and probe more deeply
• Demographics:     Coach more; become a more deliberate educator and advocate
• Operations:            Take more time to mentor and prepare new recruits to help
• Compliance:          Report, evaluate and measure more of your results
• Products:                Review and explain the attributes of new investment options
• Taxes:                      Put the focus on what the family will keep over the long term
• Capacity:                Restructure your practice to grow

Advisors who strive to build on their work to put the right short, medium and long term wealth management plan in place, will be able to use their deep and broad knowledge to explain the tax consequences of any required changes in response to political and economic events to concerned clients.

That’s important, too.  There are many factors to consider besides the potential volatility that may occur in financial markets, currency fluctuations and other key indicators over the next several years.   The opportunity is to communicate, probe, estimate, evaluate, measure and reassure, in order to manage change.

“Leadership is about unlocking people’s potential to become better.”  It’s a great quote from Tom Peters, and so appropriate to sum up the theme of this year’s DAC conference.  Have a great weekend!

Refer a Friend	Research	Calculators	Course Trials