While waiting for a guest in a Cape Town hotel, I couldn’t help but notice a group of businesspeople close by. They appeared to be an investment team from an offshore investment house, making a sales pitch to an individual investor.
The Chief Investment Officer seemed to be explaining the diligence of their investment process, which involved many professionals analysing data. Based on my inference that this was a global investment team, the requirements he mentioned sounded very entry-level. I can imagine that, to a novice investor, it might have seemed impressive, but to me, the whole picture was wrong.
I wondered why the head of a global investment team was pitching to a private investor in a foreign country. Why wasn’t he behind his computer screen, or with his team, managing his clients’ money?
It’s a regular occurrence in hotels around here – offshore wealth managers and investment house representatives meeting clients in bars or hotel dining rooms.
I always marvel at how comfortable people are to work with briefcase - carrying offshore investment representatives.
The issue I have with the picture is because of the personal nature of money. I wonder how people can be comfortable with meetings about their money taking place in a public space. There is an obvious security risk - forget cyber security risk, criminals could have a field day just sitting in hotel lobbies.
Conversations about money should focus on understanding you, your family, your needs, plans and dreams. They should start with your stories, not just about money, but about who you are, where you’ve come from, and where you want to go.
These are conversations that often bring up emotion, especially if clients are navigating traumatic life events. We shouldn’t ignore emotions; we should make room for them because they contain valuable information that should be considered in planning. They often convey our values and beliefs, which if ignored, can derail the best plans.
For meaningful conversations to flourish, you need a contained private space - a space that reflects the value you place on confidentiality and the sacredness of the information being shared.
You can only become a trusted partner if you create a physical and emotional space that conveys safety. Many clients have told me that they’ve shared information with me that they’ve not shared with anyone else.
Not everyone wants to, or is obliged to, share deep, meaningful thoughts with me. I have not set out to become a confidante, and it is not about my need for connection - I simply offer the space.
By offering the space for a holistic take on my clients’ lives, we plan better and make better financial partners.
How could you possibly become a trusted financial partner in a hotel lobby?
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Kind regards,
Sunél