Know Thy Investments
The primary foundations of Financial DNA are “Know Thyself” and Know Thy Client”. However, what I have not spoken up much before about is “Know Thy Investments”. For both the advisor and the client this is absolutely critical to successful investing. Who at some point has been caught in an investment they did not fully […]
Understanding Client DNA Behavior Under Pressure
When I was a financial planner and even before that a CPA, I had regularly observed that people’s behavior and decision-making patterns changed when they were under pressure; the pressure often being caused by money and relationships. This observation was fundamental to my thinking when I was building the Financial DNA Discovery Process with my […]
Should You Be In The Business?
I have had some interesting discussions in the past week with financial advisors and managers of advisors. With the financial downturn everyone is evaluating where they are at. The big question being asked is: “Should you be in the business?” My feeling is that over the next 1 to 3 years many current advisors will […]
Fix Corporate Behavior… Fix the Board
I have had some interesting discussions in the past few weeks with business leaders from many different industries and backgrounds in the United States. One of the areas that consistently comes up is poor corporate governance. As mentioned in my last blog most of the economic problems we have right now are due to the […]
Manage the Human Risks in Your Business
At the moment there is alot of talk about the collapsing business and financial environment. For everyone it is having an impact in all sorts of ways. Of course, we all look at the numbers side of the equation; but what about the people side? What are the human risks in your business? How are […]
Behavioral Profiles Leverage Your Intuition
In the financial services industry there are a lot of supporters for the use of behavioral profiles as part of the client discovery process and there are some detractors from using them. Like in any situation where there are detractors most have not yet had a positive experience or seen the full benefits or simply […]
Investment Risks Rooted In Human Behavior
A statement I have been making to many people for the last 10 years is: “Investment markets cannot be controlled, but how you manage your reaction to them can be”. Generally, for most investors the reason that they obtain returns which are on average 6% lower than market returns is because of their behavior. Investors […]
Wealth Mentoring Your Clients….Managing Behavior
Hang on. Where is the market going to? Will the Dow be 5000 in the next few months by June 2009 or 22000 in 6 years? Who knows. They are interesting questions. I have placed my own personal wager on the markets reaching these levels in those time frames with some friends. I have often […]
Managing Your Clients Through Turbulent Times
Well the stock market has gone to 10 year lows. Has it hit the bottom? That is not necessarily the crucial issue although this downward spiral will be raising more fears. What is crucial is how you handle this situation in terms of your own behavior and managing that of your clients. If you read […]