I started my entrepreneurial journey at the start of 2018 calendar year. Most part of 2018 I was a Corporate Trainer taking up short term assignments in various industries including what I call as my home turf (BFSI – Banking, Financial Services & Insurance)
By the end of 2018, I realised that while I enjoyed training / facilitating / coaching (all the three are not the same by the way), I drifted more towards BFSI with which I have been associated for over a decade. So I wondered what role could I don to position myself as an Independent Consultant. So from being a Consultant Trainer to a Financial Consultant…
That is when I came across these three letters– IFA – Independent Financial Advisor. IFA tag is used, misused & abused. I will clarify what I mean by that. Within the IFA tag you will find a wide spectrum of personal finance intermediaries. From being a plain vanilla insurance agent to a bit more sophisticated ‘Wealth Manager’. They come from a wide variety of background. From being a housewife / retired service person to an employee (at any level in the hierarchy in a corporate) all come under the IFA umbrella. While many of them are dedicated to this profession, there are also a number of individuals who take this up while being in a day job. It is to generate an additional income, besides pursuing it out of sheer interest / passion in the subject.
More on the species called IFA and how it’s evolving with time in another article. For this piece here, I will get on with what I stated in the heading:
The entry barrier to this profession is abysmally low or I can say as almost non-existent. No wonder one comes across IFAs (by the way as per a recent SEBI directive this acronym can no more be used by most of who used to pride themselves calling one) of varying competence, professional and ethical standards.
Without making any value judgement, I am doling out my framework / guide, if you will, which a Personal Finance Professional can use to familiarise her/himself with dynamics of this craft….
3As – Advice, Advisor & Advised
Advice
Free Advice is worth exactly what it is: Nothing
Whether it’s an Expert or an Amateur, if you are the one giving or receiving, KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) works best when it comes to advice.
This is not to undermine the competence required to give advice. It is the way it is packaged and delivered. Very few have the bandwidth (both willingness & ability) to process your ‘loaded’ advice. At times, because you charge a fee for your advice, there is a tendency to make it look / sound a bit complex to let the client know that what s/he’s paying for is indeed ‘worthy’ of every rupee…
Advisor
A man is often a bad adviser to himself and a good adviser to another
Being an Advisor (I presume irrespective of the industry) is a tough job. Often you have to action, your advice to others. This in my sense is what makes advisors more empathetic and caring towards their clients.
An Advisor needs to have higher level of self-awareness. This helps to have a ‘balcony view of the dance floor’ (phrase that is used in the coaching profession). Isnt financial advice after all a result of deep and powerful conversations between the advisor and the client…
Advised
Don’t base your decisions on the Advice of those who don’t have to deal with the results
I strongly believe that clients do want to work with advisors. Not because they completely trust them. It is probably they have somebody to blame if things don’t work out as planned. Ok fine let this be on a lighter vein.
On a serious note, those seeking advice cannot let their guards down just because they have now chosen to work with a ‘trusted’ advisor. Often good advisors never take their client’s trust for granted. They use every occasion to inspire trust and confidence in the work they do. Clients need to always look out for advisors with such qualities in addition to ‘raw’ technical competence.
3Cs – Content, Context, Communication
While the 3As are the core, without 3Cs marrying into them there’s no life in the Advisor – Client relationship.
While advice is the Content, it is valued only if it is relevant to the Context of the life goals of the client. Under pinning all these is the Communication which I feel is the bedrock of any relationship, more so here.
Great Communication begins with Connection!
