From working remotely to minding mental wellness, advisers adapt
to the new normal
April 1, 2020 By
Jeff Benjamin
The
financial advisory industry is learning on the fly and in many cases adapting
well to the COVID-19
world where working remotely means taking on new challenges and
relying more heavily on technology to communicate with clients and colleagues.
With
that in mind, an InvestmentNews
webcast on Tuesday tapped into the experiences of financial
planning professionals to take a closer look at techniques, communication and
delivery needed to optimize advisory practices during the global pandemic.
The
silver lining that many financial firms are quickly realizing is that working
from home might be an underrated and overlooked opportunity for
basic business management.
“None
of us could have pictured this, but I’m amazed at how effectively our people
are working and how seamlessly they’re transferring calls, doing trades, and
doing reviews,” said Gerard Klingman, founder and president of Klingman
&Associates.
“I
think a lot of us will think about how we work going forward because we’ve been
so productive under these circumstances,” he added.
David
Armstrong, president and co-founder Monument Wealth Management, has also been
pleasantly surprised with the transition to remote work.
“I’ve
been joking that it will be difficult to convince people to come back to the
office because it’s going so well,” he said. “It has driven serious questions
about what our future office space looks like. I’m thinking when the lease
comes due, we could cut office space in half.”
After
just a few weeks of having his company work remotely, Armstrong is already
envisioning a wealth management firm where employees have lockers instead of
workspaces.
“If you
need privacy and personal space, just stay at your kitchen table,” he said. “Of
course, I would be putting that office space expense back on the employee to
expand their home office space.”
Klingman
and Armstrong were two of the four panelists discussing what has become the new
normal for how financial professionals continue operating by placing a greater
focus on the general well-being of clients and employees, and less on the state
of the financial markets.
Mike
McDaniel, co-founder and chief investment officer of Riskalyze, said prior to
the COVID-19 outbreak his company had already drafted a questionnaire to see
how employees felt about working remotely.
“We’re
now holding off on sending out that questionnaire until everyone has done it
for a few weeks,” he said. “I think a lot of folks like the idea of working
from home.”
But
even as advisers and others who can are adjusting to working remotely, there
are many nuances that should be considered when relying on technology for
professional and personal interactions.
Behavioral
finance
Klingman
said it’s important to keep in mind that clients are not just adapting to
communicating via video, they are also dealing emotionally with an unprecedented pandemic
that has devastated the global financial markets.
“Don’t
presume the clients want to talk about their portfolios or the markets,” he
said. “It ranges from somebody terrified about their health or the health of
family member, to the other extreme of people thinking this is a great time to
buy long term risk assets, but don’t make assumptions about what they want to
talk about.”
That
point was spot on, according to Sarah Newcomb, director of behavioral science
at Morningstar.
“I
agree, advisers should listen first,” she said. “Advisers are great listeners and
one thing they should listen for is signs of rumination, which can happen
whether someone is wealthy or not.”
Rumination
is similar to anxiety and depression and involves dwelling on a thought or
problem that doesn’t have a clear resolution.
“When
there are so many unknowns like now, we can’t solve the problem and our brains
go to overdrive with repetitive thoughts of what-ifs,” Newcomb said. “The
reason rumination is so bad and so dangerous is it shortens your time period.
Right now, people have very short-term thinking because they can’t predict next
week, never mind 10 years from now.”
Newcomb
said advisers should listen for signs of fear and anxiety and then encourage
the client to talk about someone who has been an inspiration to them in the
past.
“Don’t
talk about numbers,” she added. “Just thinking about their social support
network allows people to think longer term and make better decisions. Ask them
about their emotional support network.”
In
terms of communicating over video or phone when face-to-face meetings are not
possible, Newcomb said it’s important to be as engaged as possible, which means
looking into the camera to simulate eye contact and to offer constant
acknowledgement of listening when talking on the phone.
“The
other part of delivery is tone and leadership is important even if all you do
is stay poised,” she added. “There are so many shouting voices right now that
people appreciate a calm presence. You don’t have to put an overly positive
spin on things, but just be calm and poised.”
In
addition to enhancing communication with clients, Newcomb said financial
professionals should pay attention to their own well being as the crisis
unfolds.
“The
first thing we have to recognize is everyone has had their life altered,” she
said. “We’re all so tired right now because our brains have to work harder
because we’re not in our normal routine. Give yourself permission to rest more
and not operate at 100% all the time. We are creating new behaviors and
everyday we’re trying to form new habits and behaviors. This is a great
opportunity to break bad habits and start new habits in any area of your life.”
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