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Sourajit Aiyer
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Fee replacing commission in product
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the manufacturer (AMC) for
GLOBAL SCENE
the product he sells to his
REGION
client. Commission rates differ
Detailed DSE Trading
across products. Hence there
is often a tendency to push
FE EPAPER
products which earn higher
commissions for the distributor. This leads to instances of mis-selling sometimes,
since a product earning higher commission may not always be the correct one for
the client's specific goals. Since it doesn't always work for the client's best
interests, it often leads to client dissatisfaction and low chances of stickiness.
Hence, the fee-based advisory model has started gaining ground. This model is
believed to work in the best interest of clients in terms of his long-term goals, as
it remunerates the adviser for the advice he renders to grow clients' assets. This
is expected to enhance the client's satisfaction with the adviser's services and
chances of stickiness of assets, which should ideally also help the adviser's
income. This article attempts to understand how advisers can make their
transition to the fee-based model successfully.
FE ARCHIVE
Go
Making the transition successful needs the following:
* Communicate the value proposition of the new model to clients along with its
benefit for them, including the strengths of adviser's own advisory service.
Communicate to the clients that the advisers will be working in their best interest
in terms of genuinely helping them to achieve their long-term objectives by
advising on products/plans best suited to grow their assets. Emphasise that it
reduces chances of selling products just because it earns higher commission. If
the client sees true value in the adviser, he would continue despite the transition.
If the adviser has faith in the quality of his advice, he can be more assertive.
* Meet key clients personally to explain to them the plan/benefits for transition, at
least for the larger client accounts. Email a letter or concise presentations
outlining the plan and its benefits, so that they can use it while it thinking over.
* Recognise client feedback/common queries/concerns from the initial interactions
to tweak subsequent interactions accordingly and increase effectiveness. Practise
delivery initially with own-company people to assess if the delivery sounds
convincing. Benchmark and map the process done by the successful/senior
advisers to train the remaining adviser force.
* A dilemma is with whom to start. Surveys in the European Union countries
show it's actually the older, experienced, wealthier, financially-educated clients
who consult advisers more. Hence, advisers looking to make a transition might
start with that segment first from among their client base. Try one's oldest clients
c
first as there is an established trust factor with them. Advisers can make the
delivery sound like they are seeking client's advice/opinion on this transition idea,
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and not merely informing them. Or else, they might try on smaller clients first in
order to polish the delivery and gain initial feedback.
* Define a compelling and holistic service promise based on adviser's own
capabilities and what clients are typically seeking, and try to deliver on that
service promise completely without any service gaps. Service promise needs to be
based on client end-objectives, rather than simply market out-performance.
Assessing market performance of chosen assets is beyond one's control; hence a
proposition based solely on out-performance may not show results each and
every year. Instead, advisers need to broaden the service promise using activities
which can be better controlled, like asset allocation, rebalancing, low-cost
investing, planning for lifetime needs, reviewing the progress, tax efficiency and
behavioural coaching so that the external noise does not influence him. Stress
that the broader scope of services is not really addressed in the commission
model. Also, out-performance is not always perceived positively since it might
mean riskier or concentrated portfolios which can swing both ways.
* Service promise needs to be complemented with quality and relevant advice.
Stress to clients that the fee model ensures better quality of advice. Justification
for the service is pinned on the claim that it creates long-term value for the client,
and correct and relevant advice will take clients closer to their goals. This requires
methodical understanding of the client's goals for that money, drawing a plan that
seeks to achieve this with a service promise, and keeping that service promise. It
also involves estimating client's future liquidity needs and conveying product risk
factors beforehand. A test to check if clients really perceive the advice as good
quality and relevant is the number of word-of-mouth referrals they can give for
new clients. Periodically check client satisfaction via structured feedback. Do not
mistake inertia as client satisfaction.
* Lack of proactive communication is a major factor determining client
satisfaction. Delivering on the service promise needs to look at after-sales
services too, since absence of regular communication on status can often lead to
client dropouts despite good advice. This includes communication on portfolio
updates, reviews, forward action plans, including during phases of downperformance. This also includes update discussions to reassure clients during any
macroeconomic/political/regulatory event which clients fear may have a bearing
on their investments. It helps clients to be aware of where they stand vis-a-vis
their long-term goals. Ensure all meetings and communications that were
promised in the service promise are met. Use enhanced report formats which are
more holistic in their comparison to client goals rather than just concentrating on
the out-performance number.
* Adviser should process-map the service promise to ascertain dependencies for
achieving the outcome, develop KPIs based on those and remove any gaps. Start
with the outcome and work backwards to ascertain dependencies. Each
dependency is part of an activity that helps establish key performance areas for
achieving the service promise. Process mapping of the activity chain can also help
address any gaps if they exist. Conduct periodic status-checks during the
relationship.
* Delivering on the service promise without gaps typically means that the stated
goals and client satisfaction are most likely achieved. Successful advisory
relationships often generate sizable business through sticky relationships since
clients perceive value in the service. Repeat business lowers the incremental cost
of client servicing, which is good for profitability, given the comparatively higher
cost of client acquisition. Hence, endeavour should be that no gap exists between
what was promised to clients and what they actually experienced. Clients'
willingness to stick and do repeat business depends on it.
* Explore aligning the adviser's incentive structure with client satisfaction levels
and repeat business volumes. Also, sticky relationships might be convinced to pay
more for additional new services.
* Transparency in costs is also a part of the service promise. Itemise all the
activities involved in delivering that promise. Price each stage separately if
possible to bring in transparency in fee. Nobody likes last-minute surprises when
it comes to paying costs. Estimate reasonable break-even assets under
management (AUM) and target only those clients which can bring in profitability.
c
* Advisers cannot expect to retain every client and may also need to resist from
adding every prospect due to viability reasons. Adviser's success depends on
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focusing on clients who can help build long-term profits and the larger need is to
build the correct client base which is ultimately capable of giving profitability to
the adviser's business. Advisers can estimate the minimum client AUM level
required at which he can profitably render his service. Using his costs, assume the
break-even revenue level. Using the percent of AUM method and a typical fee of 1
-1.5 per cent, divide the break-even revenue by the fee to get the break-even
AUM needed to ensure that the cost of servicing is at least met. Depending on the
number of clients in the system, it should give a reasonable level of break-even
AUM.
* If this break-even AUM is higher than realistic market standards, the adviser
needs to re-look at his costs to be able to do the business at a lower minimum
AUM. Advisers might also identify a range of AUM levels for different segments of
target clients based on different costs of servicing.
* For clients below this break-even AUM, retain them if possible by lowering costs
using standard template advice-matrix, using call centres or using junior advisers.
Or at least help them transition to another adviser, because this is a business
where relationships are all that matters.
* Prepare comparison sheet of pay-outs of key clients as per the commission
model, and what these would have been under the fee model. While transactions
would have different in either model naturally, nevertheless, it might give a rough
idea of which would have been beneficial.
* Prepare an index of client satisfaction based on variables like extent of flows
from repeat business, client churn rate, new client referrals from existing clients,
feedback scores received, etc. Use this to estimate the existing client satisfaction
and if an improvement is required at all
* Prepare fee matrix as per different asset sizes, along with fee per individual
service, and assess if the final pay-out for the client is within acceptable limits.
Also explore the option to maintain part of adviser incentive structure based on
actual asset growth achieved.
Advisers really need to assess their client's profile, investing behaviour, longevity
and satisfaction, as well as their own capabilities and strengths to ascertain the
roadmap for the transition. The transition will be a slow and gradual process.
Advisers will have to convince them of its benefits and stress that it makes
advisers work in their best interests. Clients place their trust based on the
adviser's success. Hence, it might be better to under-promise and over-achieve in
terms of the service promise, rather than over-promise and then fall short. At the
end, profitable growth makes a valuable and sustainable business. Hence,
sustaining profitability should be the objective that advisers need to think of
ultimately.
The
author
works
India.
with
a
leading
capital
market
company
in
The views expressed are personal and may not represent any
entity. sourajitaiyer@gmail.com
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