Many clients view their personal financial advisors as solely focused on investments and retirement. Businesses may reach out to their advisors only at tax time. However, there are many other impactful ways both business and personal financial advisors can assist and guide their clients. Additionally, there are new technologies and options that financial advisors can leverage to help their clients achieve optimal results.
Below, 12 Forbes Finance Council members share some advantageous services they offer and areas that they counsel in to help their clients remain successful. If you weren’t aware of these services, it may be wise to talk to your financial advisor to see what additional options they may offer.
Members pictured from left to right.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Guiding Asset Location
One area that we emphasize is asset location. Where an asset resides—be it stocks, bonds, commodities or alternative investments—can make a significant difference in after-tax returns. Placing tax-inefficient investments in IRAs or 401(k)s while housing more efficient investments in taxable accounts can be a significant value-add for many clients. - Ben Warwick, Aveo Capital Partners LLC
2. Providing Cash Flow Projections
Do you know not only your income, but also your cash flow? It is important to look at cash flow for a 13-week projection. Make sure that payroll and large payments are covered. To take it a step further, what do sales need to be to cover that cash and be open in 13 weeks? This is an important calculation that can be overlooked. - Kaylin Leland, Fourlane
Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?
3. Educating About Alternative Lending Options
Most financial advisors aren’t aware of all the alternative lending options available to entrepreneurs, but there’s an entire world of non-bank lending that includes large, publicly traded companies that fund more than $1 billion per year. These institutions are often more flexible than bank lenders, too. Any financial advisor should familiarize themselves with these options for the sake of their clients. - Joe Camberato, National Business Capital
4. Offering Full Financial Planning
One area that clients of financial advisors aren’t taking advantage of is obtaining a full financial plan that encompasses the totality of goal attainment. While many financial advisors offer financial planning, do they provide a comprehensive analysis that includes protection products (including life, health, property and casualty insurance)? How are you planning for both upside and downside events? - Kacey Butcher, Adaptation Financial
5. Providing Personalized Advice
Building a relationship with your financial advisor is necessary. Open your lines of communication with them so they will know and understand you more. This will help them help you make decisions that are aligned with your goals and values, especially if something’s not right with your portfolio. Their advice on managing risks and making smart investment decisions is based on their experience. - Neil Anders, Trusted Rate, Inc.
6. Advising On Alternative Investments
Investors need to educate themselves about investments that are less correlated to broader markets than stocks and bonds. Sophisticated endowments and family offices do just that, and it’s time that these alternatives are made more widely available. This year, Zoom—a great company—is down significantly, and bonds are down 15%. You have to look elsewhere for solutions to protect your nest egg. - Jeffrey Sarti, Morton Wealth
7. Exploring Impact Investing
Impact investing is not to be confused with ESG. Consideration of environmental, social and governance factors in decision making—as a strategy, not an investment framework—is the future of finance and business. What many people don’t understand is that impact investing is not concessionary; do not expect lower returns for higher environmental and social impact. In other words, it is not philanthropy. - Jaclyn Foroughi, Brazen Impact
8. Arranging Creative Life Insurance Policies That Enhance Net Worth
For high-net-worth families specifically, we can often obtain significant life insurance policies (to the tune of $100 million of coverage), combined with a bank loan to finance up to 100% of the insurance premiums. Known as Premium Financing in the U.S. or Immediate Financing Arrangements in Canada, this unique option has proven value both from net worth and tax perspectives. - Daniel Kachani, Aria Wealth Solutions
9. Networking With Other Finance Experts
Financial providers often connect with other professionals who are experts within their own fields. The success of any financial advisor is knowing what parts they are good at and what parts need to be outsourced to other members of the team or perhaps another firm. A good advisor should help you find those other professionals and work with them as part of your overall planning. Ask questions—the more the better. - Joseph Orseno, Tiltify
10. Helping You ‘Check Your Blind Spots’
I primarily work with business owners. There seems to be a widespread attitude of “I can do it myself,” which is both an asset and a detriment. Most business owners are capable of operating their companies to drive success. However, we’re all susceptible to proximity blindness. Business advisors help entrepreneurs check their blind spots and grow their businesses so they can realize their true potential. - Justin Goodbread, WealthSource Partners, LLC
11. Helping You Mitigate Financial Risk
It is important to help clients create a financial plan and revisit it with them often. We make financial planning part of the management of a client’s wealth. We take into account their assets, their time horizon, their risk tolerance, their current asset allocation and whether that allocation is still right for them. We look at their estate, trusts and ways to mitigate risk in their financial lives. - Aviva Pinto, Wealthspire Advisors
12. Assessing And Planning For Tax Impacts
One little utilized service is tax planning. Strategically planning your financial goals with consideration for the tax impact may make a significant difference in your decision making. If you don’t understand the full tax impact, you may find your financial forecasts are missing the mark, causing your nest egg to dwindle sooner. - Karla Dennis, Karla Dennis and Associates Inc.
