The James Grill Wealth Management Team is unique. Team members combined have over 50 years of wealth management experience, backed by strong education and accreditation. The service we provide is consultative and thorough, and clients find us indispensable. Our extremely hands-on, high level of service is provided to a carefully selected group of affluent families and entrepreneurs with financial assets of $1 million or greater.
We appreciate that wealth management is a daunting task for most people and therefore have developed a comprehensive, highly consultative, systematic process. With ongoing proactive review of their wealth management plans, we contact our clients at agreed upon intervals to uncover any new or evolving issues, and ensure nothing relevant escapes our attention.
We have a genuine understanding of the psycho-emotional makeup of the High Net Worth mind. Unfortunately, there is still a measurable disconnect between what the advisory community assumes to be true and what the wealthy are actually thinking and experiencing on a day-to-day basis. High Net Worth investors bring with them a surprising set of fears, challenges, dreams, wants and desires. Ultimately, however, all of these internalized elements percolate to the surface and translate neatly into a set of expectations for their advisory team.
As Grant Shorten, Director of Strategic Insights at Renaissance Investments, writes in his Advisor.ca article ‘Engaging the HNW Investor’, there are five primary ‘demands of the affluent’ that extend out to virtually all of their key business relationships:
- Complete objectivity – the affluent are leery of all things investment related – especially following the meltdown of 2008 – and are therefore seeking unbiased and conflict-free advice. When High Net Worth investors evaluate an advisor’s approach, they need to be absolutely certain that the decisions made with their hard earned wealth will be driven solely by their best interests, unblemished by compromising influences. We remove any and all doubt surrounding potential conflicts of interest by openly demonstrating our objective approach to financial planning, estate planning, portfolio construction, and all other aspects of our business practice.
- Full transparency – we successfully build and maintain deep, lifelong relationships with our High Net Worth clients by operating with full transparency from day one. We believe unconstrained openness is the best way to accelerate the development of our relationship, and establishes a free-flowing communication dynamic for the years to come. Wealthy investors understand things like fees, but do not appreciate hidden costs or unexpected surprises. We proactively display our ‘see-through’ business model by volunteering the details of our compensation structure, total fees to the investor, client service expectations, and all other potential sources of cynicism or mistrust.
- Competitive advantage – more often than not, our High Net Worth clients achieved their wealth by creating (or being exposed to) a series of competitive advantages along the way. This is no secret to the wealthy, and as a result, they are keenly aware of the presence of competitive advantage within our business practice. You want to know what makes us special, and the definitive edge we bring to the relationship. We confidently showcase our specific points of differentiation – those critical elements that separate us from the myriad of other professionals who claim to provide a similar service. We directly and unapologetically address your unspoken question: “Why should I do business with you?”
- Defined process – the affluent are drawn to structure and discipline. As a natural byproduct of their journey to wealth, the High Net Worth investor has come to value the critical importance of a defined process. The wealthy have little tolerance for flimsy, wishy-washy business models and will quickly lose faith in the presence of indecision. We take strong cues from the largest institutional money managers and private wealth counselors, who have discovered the power of employing a stringent mechanical process in their work with wealthy clients. Most advisors simply “wing it”, we do not. We have become masters of a single, defined process. We instill massive clarity in the minds of our high-net-worth clients by articulating exactly how our process operates and what you can confidently expect at each stage along the way.
- Brilliant service – due to the complexity of their financial affairs, High Net Worth investors expect more attention from their advisory team than ever before. Virtually all industry surveys tell us that the top two reasons an affluent investor leaves an advisory relationship is because of poor service and repeated mistakes. In addition to the most fundamental expectations of regular contact and accuracy of work, today’s wealthy investor hungers for a relationship with a central go-to professional, and seeks holistic advice around more than just investments. We consistently capture the majority of our affluent investors’ wealth by positioning ourselves as a true guardian of wealth and provider of exquisite client service. We deliver top-notch service to our elite clients by first discovering, and then providing what they need and want from us. There are countless definitions of great service, but the only definition that matters is yours.
(Based on Advisor.ca article ‘Engaging the HNW Investor’ published May 25, 2011. Used with permission from Renaissance Investments and Advisor.ca)
