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Referrals to Financial Advisors. Welcome to the webinar that describes why CPAs, attorneys, and other Centers of Influence refer clients and others to financial professionals who are profiled in the Paladin Registry Webinar Duration Number of slides: 17 Viewing Time: Approximately 7 minutes
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Referrals to Financial Advisors • Welcome to the webinar that describes why CPAs, attorneys, and other Centers of Influence refer clients and others to financial professionals who are profiled in the Paladin Registry • Webinar Duration • Number of slides: 17 • Viewing Time: Approximately 7 minutes • Jack Waymire, Narrator • 31 years of financial industry experience • Author of the best selling book “Who’s Watching Your Money?” • Co-founder, PaladinRegistry.com
About Paladin • Paladin is an independent information services company; not a financial services company • The Registry is a unique source of objective information about financial advisors, planners, and firms • No advisor or firm has an equity interest in Paladin • No advisor or planner is employed by, licensed by, or affiliated with the Paladin Registry • Paladin is not licensed to sell any investment products
Paladin Research • Paladin has surveyed more than 4,000 consumers to obtain factual information about their range of experiences with advisors and planners • Paladin received input from more than 550 financial professionals about their range of experiences with consumers • Paladin combined the input from both sources to develop the content of this webinar
Client Needs & Assumptions • Based on extensive Paladin Research, there are four reasons why your clients and other people ask you to refer them to financial advisors and planners: #1. It’s an easy way for them to find financial professionals #2. They don’t know where else to go to find advisors #3. They don’t have to do any work evaluating advisors #4. They assume you know the best advisors because you or your other clients already use their services
Expectations = Pressure • Research also shows clients have expectations when you refer them to financial professionals. They expect your referrals to: • Have high degrees of competence and ethics • Put their financial interests ahead of their own • Have investor-friendly business practices • Produce above average results • Client expectations can create pressure: • First, there is the pressure to help your clients find quality advisors • Then, there is the pressure to help your clients avoid the risks and consequences of bad financial advice • Then, there is the pressure that your clients may be negatively impacted by the advisors that you referred them to
Advisor Expertise • Unfortunately, there is no easy way to determine advisor competence. For example: • 90% of advisors are sales representatives (reps) who are paid commissions to sell products; they are not paid to help your clients achieve their goals • Advisors don’t have audited track records • There is a broad range in the quality of advisors • All sales reps claim to be ethical experts even when its not true • Sales reps use titles, for example planner or advisor, to help them maximize their sales of investment and insurance products • Reps do not provide any written documentation for their claims of financial expertise
Advisor Ethics • Advisor ethics are even more difficult to measure • All advisors claim to be trustworthy. Like expertise, this claim helps them sell their products and services • Investors should go to www.nasd.org to view the advisors’ compliance records. However, the records don’t show: • Conflicts of interest • Advisors selling products that make them the most money • Advisors using titles, they have no right to use, to sell more products • Advisors hiding information from consumers that would interfere with their sales processes
Advisor Results • Money managers have track records because they provide the same service to multiple clients • Advisors do not have track records because their services vary by client • Advisors try to create track records by: • Selling hot products that they selected after the performance occurred • Providing references that describe the results that the advisor produced for them • Showing consumers sample performance reports • Advisor s’ past results cannot be documented
Just Say No • Refusing to provide your clients with advisor referrals is an easy solution; it’s just not the best solution • There are several reasons why you should help your clients find and evaluate financial advisors and planners • Without help, your clients will be prone to selecting bad advisors because they don’t know how to determine advisor quality • You want to help your clients avoid the risks and consequences of bad financial advice • You want to help your clients achieve their financial goals • You don’t want your clients going to your competitors for help • You may also have common clients with the advisors in the future
The Registry Solution • You can help your clients find and select quality advisors by referring them to a local, five star member of the Registry • Paladin screened the advisor for you • They can view the professional profile of this advisor • They can use the Registry’s educational content to learn more about advisors • And they can print copies of the advisor’s profile and other documents so they have a permanent record
Paladin Registry Facts • The website URL is www.paladinregistry.com • More than 700,000 consumers have used Registry services since April, 2005 • The Registry received Kiplinger’s highest quality rating for its service category • CBS Marketwatch called Registry services the perfect solution for consumers who didn’t know where to find advisors and how to determine their quality
Registry Services • Information Center - Consumer education for selecting quality advisors and avoiding bad advice • Search Service – Matches consumers to pre-screened, five star planners and advisors • Documentation Service – Comprehensive information for advisor credentials, ethics, business practices, and services • Rate Your Advisor – A questionnaire and evaluation system for rating non-Registry advisors
The 90/10 Rule • A financial professional introduced you to the free public services in the Registry • The professional is a member of the Registry and an advocate for competent, ethical financial advice • Less than 10% of advisors who contact us have credentials, ethics, business practices, and services that meet the Registry’s high minimum standards for admittance • More than 90% are rejected because they don’t meet Registry standards for competence and ethics
Registry Professionals • Advisors who are profiled in the Registry have these characteristics in common: • They provide competent financial advice • They have ethical business practices • Their clients interests always come first • They are acknowledged fiduciaries • They are compensated with fees • They provide sophisticated financial services • They provide voluntary documentation and disclosures • The achievement of client goals is their number one priority
The Need for Documentation • Non-Registry advisors use sales skills and personalities to convince clients to trust them with their assets • Their verbal information is easy to misrepresent • It’s also easy to omit verbal information • Clients have no written record of what was said to them • Verbal information is easy to deny later • On the other hand, Registry profiled advisors provide comprehensive, written documentation for their credentials, ethics, business practices, and services
What’s the Cost or Catch? • There is no cost • All Registry services are free to the public • We have nothing to sell consumers • There is no catch • Your clients don’t have to register to use three of the four Registry services for consumers: Information Center, View Documents, and Rate Your Advisor • Registration is required for the search service so we can send them their results
Summary • Now you know there’s an alternative that helps you satisfy your clients’ needs for competent, ethical financial advice • You can refer them to the education, search, and documentation services on the Registry website • You will be providing a value-added service that also helps you avoid the risk of bad advisor referrals • Thank you!