In the 40+ years that I have been blessed to be a Financial Advisor I have witnessed a lot of changes in the financial services industry. I continue to learn from my training, continued education and client experiences. The Investments & Wealth Institute at their April 2021 annual conference presented a session on “What Clients Expect from an Exceptional Advisor” and shared the chart below on a 35-year Mega-Trend showing how some financial professionals have adapted their services to their clients’ needs.
Facilitating a 35-year Mega-Trend from Brokerage to Advice
Broker Advisor
Product-Centered Client-Centered
Opacity and Complexity Transparency and Simplicity
Transactional Knowledge-Based
Focus on Client Acquisition Focus on Client Service (Retention)
Holds required licenses Voluntary certification
“Stays Current” Lifelong Learning
Meets Compliance Code of Ethics
Which column more accurately describes your Financial Advisor?
This chart addresses a “trend” in the last 35 years, it does not apply to all those that label themselves as Financial Advisors. There are still plenty of Advisors that are product-centered; complex; transactional; worry more about getting new clients than retaining old clients; and maintains a license.
As Financial Advisors our focus should be on helping the investor achieve their investment objectives using the risk tolerance, they are comfortable with to obtain the cash flow they need to maintain their standard of living. The investments and the costs involved in owning them that the Financial Advisor recommends should be explained before any investment is made. The investor should ask how much it costs them and how does the Financial Advisor get paid. The investor should go to www.brokercheck.finra.org to see if the Financial Advisor has any disclosures on their record.
Financial Advisors differ in many ways such as years of experience, investment philosophy, how they conduct their practice, compensation, accreditations, and overall purpose. It is important that the individual you select to handle your investments is client-centered; transparent and simple; knowledgeable; focused on serving your needs; licensed; getting continued education and ethical.
In December of 1981, I passed my Series 7 exam, became a Registered Representative and started my career as an Investment Consultant. The DJIA closed out 1981 at 875; closed out 1991 at 2,929; closed out 2001 at 10,021; closed out 2011 at 12,218 and recently closed out 2022 at 33,147. Over the years, my experiences (with up stock markets; down stock markets and high interest rates; low interest rates and inflation; deflation) have enabled me to gain knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, common sense, understanding and insight. An individual recently interviewed me and said they wished they had met me 30 years ago and I told them that 30 years ago I didn’t know what I know today.
The first 20 years of my career I was in training and the last 20 years of my career I have worked to perfect my process. For the next 20 years, I plan on continuing to work by helping and educating existing and new clients on how to preserve their wealth; preserve their purchasing power and then distribute their wealth as a legacy to their children. There is an old saying “Retirement is doing the things you want to do, when you want to do them”. Being a Financial Advisor is my passion and allows me to do just that.
I had an epiphany about 10 years ago on why Lake Jackson (and other area) professionals work into their late 70s and 80s years of age. They are icons in the community, and I look up to their leadership. What I concluded was that they believed they gave the best of themselves to their patients and clients and that they couldn’t rely on an inexperienced person; or a person that does business in a different way or even someone their clients do not know or trust. As a result, they continue to joyfully serve their clients. That opened my eyes and convicted me to continue to work and to help individuals with their investments.
These articles have appeared in our local newspaper, The Facts over the last several years and are a representation of my desire to educate those seeking professional financial assistance. More will be coming. I personally wrote and Baird compliance approved these articles. If you send me your email, I will send you a copy of the articles.
2018 Retiring or Pursuing 2nd Career
2018 No Help Needed
2018 How to Interview a Financial Advisor
2020 Wealth Preservation in Times of Uncertainty
2020 Answers the Spouse Should Understand
2020 A Time for Everything
2021 Are Certifications Important?
2021 Inflation, Should Investors be Concerned?
2022 Developing an Investment Portfolio
2022 Bonds: Buy, Sell or Hold
2022 Recessions Weathering the Storm
2022 Goodbye 2022 Hello 2023
My current CPWA® and RMA® certifications demonstrate my commitment to enhancing my knowledge and skills to better serve you. Certified Private Wealth Advisor® is an advanced education and certification program for financial advisors who work with high-net-worth clients on the life cycle of wealth: accumulation, preservation, and distribution. Retirement Management Advisor® is an advanced certification for financial professionals that provides them with knowledge to build custom retirement income plans for their clients to better mitigate risk and strive to achieve better outcomes.
Gary Foose is a Financial Advisor with Baird Retirement Management in Lake Jackson. Baird is located at 208 Parking Way, Lake Jackson. Gary is on LinkedIn. Gary’s personal email and website is gfoose@rwbaird.com.
The information offered is provided to you for informational purposes only. Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated is not a legal or tax services provider and you are strongly encouraged to seek the advice of the appropriate professional advisors before taking any action. The information reflected on this page are Baird expert opinions today and are subject to change. The information provided here has not taken into consideration the investment goals or needs of any specific investor and investors should not make any investment decisions based solely on this information. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. All investments have some level of risk, and investors have different time horizons, goals and risk tolerances, so speak to your Baird Financial Advisor before taking action.