/ by Don Connelly / Investing Wisdom / 0 comments
We’ve all encountered them: The prospect or client who wants to go it alone. They want to manage their own portfolio.
Well, here’s one approach you can use:
First, ask the question, “Can I share something with you?” (I like this phrase because it’s non-confrontational. It doesn’t activate the prospect’s ego, leading to an argument you can’t win. It neutralizes it.
Then you can show them the latest DALBAR study.
It doesn’t matter much what year you use. The results for individual DIY investors are almost always dismal: According to the 2019 DALBAR Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior, the typical do-it-yourselfer achieved an annual real return of just 1.71%.
Compared with the S&P 500, do-it-yourself investors lagged the S&P 500 by huge margins:
• 4.35 percentage points, annualized, over five years;
• 3.46 percentage points, annualized, over 10 years;
The reason: Bad market timing decisions. People pile into the market at the wrong times, and then they panic and sell at the wrong times.
Why? Because people are irrational, and are hardwired to make sub-optimal decisions.
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Where Financial Advisors Can Get Help Building Their Practice
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
Few careers are as demanding as building a successful financial advisory practice. In addition to acquiring essential financial knowledge, financial advisors must develop solid business acumen, hone their soft skills, and work tirelessly to build their clientele while consistently seeking improvement.
This business is not for the faint-hearted, and it’s foolish to think you can do it on your own. I don’t know many successful advisors who made it, especially when starting out, without the benefit of a support system, whether it’s a mentor, coach, accountability partner, or the comradeship of an advisor community.
Each avenue offers unique benefits to help you reach the next level, regardless of your business stage.
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Overcome the Fee Discussion by Focusing on the Things that Matter to Your Clients
/ by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments
Among the many trends affecting the way financial advisors must operate these days, fee compression has been the most impactful. The discussion of fees charged by advisors has moved to the forefront due to the low costs and transparency of digital advice platforms and the highly competitive arena in which they find themselves. As a result, clients are more willing to confront their advisors on the subject of fees and the value they receive in exchange for them, catching many advisors off guard.
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5 Steps to Create and Sustain a Winner’s Mindset
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
I’ve already written about self-sabotaging behaviors, and how to avoid them. But today, I’d like to address the flip side of the coin: How you can actively develop and maintain a winner’s mindset.
I’ve known many hugely successful advisors in my time. And they all have certain traits in common:
– They take a proactive approach to time management;
– They don’t make excuses for themselves. Instead, they take on and eliminate or bypass obstacles;
– They surround themselves with positive influences and accountability partners;
– They constantly expose themselves to positive messages and ideas.
– They get help when they need it.
So here are five things you can do to help develop that winner’s mindset – and sustain it over time.
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Reasons Clients Need a Financial Advisor – Overcoming the Do-It-Yourself Objection
/ by Don Connelly / Investing Wisdom / 0 comments
We’ve all encountered them: The prospect or client who wants to go it alone. They want to manage their own portfolio.
Well, here’s one approach you can use:
First, ask the question, “Can I share something with you?” (I like this phrase because it’s non-confrontational. It doesn’t activate the prospect’s ego, leading to an argument you can’t win. It neutralizes it.
Then you can show them the latest DALBAR study.
It doesn’t matter much what year you use. The results for individual DIY investors are almost always dismal: According to the 2019 DALBAR Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior, the typical do-it-yourselfer achieved an annual real return of just 1.71%.
Compared with the S&P 500, do-it-yourself investors lagged the S&P 500 by huge margins:
• 4.35 percentage points, annualized, over five years;
• 3.46 percentage points, annualized, over 10 years;
The reason: Bad market timing decisions. People pile into the market at the wrong times, and then they panic and sell at the wrong times.
Why? Because people are irrational, and are hardwired to make sub-optimal decisions.
Read more
What to Look for in an Accountability Partner
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
Unsuccessful advisors may dream of success but they can’t seem to commit to or stick with their ideas. They tend to procrastinate or spend their time struggling to discern between high and low priority tasks. Successful advisors on the other hand have a clear roadmap incorporating concrete goals and they consistently hit their targets. They have discovered the art of “accountability”.
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