It’s no secret.
There is a huge trust deficit in my profession.
And with good reason.
Historically, ‘financial genocide’ against expatriates had been commonplace…
With poor performance, a lack of transparency, and sky-high concealed charges.
This baggage results in a question I hear time and time again.
“Can I trust my financial adviser”?
I wrote a blog about this recently.
And I could write dozens more.
After all, trust is at the heart of everything we do.
It has to be earned.
Ultimately, it’s money driving the system…
Your money.
Your life.
Your anxieties.
Your future.
And that one word…
‘Trust’.
It can diminish the feelings of risk associated with allowing someone else to manage your money.
Or the feeling of panic when markets fall.
(Leading us to do precisely the wrong thing at the wrong time).
Financial author and consultant, Herman Brodie, believes there are two components to trusting an adviser.
Both play a part in the ‘perception of benevolence’.
Sadly, the traditional financial services industry has always been focused on rewarding the sellers of products not the users of them.
Full disclosure, I know this because I was part of this industry.
The intimate understanding I gained of how it works is the ‘why’ that drove us to begin transforming and disrupting this outdated industry way back when in 2012.
And we haven’t stopped yet...
If trust in your existing adviser has broken down, it’s difficult to rebuild.
Listen to your gut.
And while it’s true…
No one cares as much about your finances as you…
There are advisers who are legally and ethically bound to act in another person’s best interest.
Not their own.
Always take personal responsibility and do a little legwork to understand the fundamentals.
After all, “time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted”.
