Where purpose meets performance

For decades, our industry has viewed return on investment as one of the most important measures of success. But increasingly, clients are also asking a more personal question: What is my money helping me do?

Today’s investors aren’t abandoning performance, but they are broadening how they define value. Thrivent research found that 82% of Americans believe the true return on their money is how it improves their life over time.

This finding points to the important role of financial advice: clients increasingly want to know whether their financial strategy is helping them feel prepared, make smart choices and create meaningful life experiences.

A broader measure of success

Return on experience is the life a client’s financial strategy makes possible.

A portfolio may be performing well while its owner still feels uncertain. Can I weather an unexpected setback? Do I have enough flexibility to pursue a new opportunity? Can I support the people and causes that matter to me without putting my own future at risk?

Traditional performance measures cannot fully answer those questions. They can show whether a portfolio is on track, but not always whether a person feels prepared to navigate what comes next.

That distinction matters. While investment expertise, disciplined planning and strong performance remain critical, clients also need help translating financial strategies into meaningful outcomes.

Starting with what matters

Delivering value begins with deeply understanding why clients are investing.

What do they want their money to make possible? Where do they feel vulnerable, even if their financial picture appears strong on paper? What would greater financial clarity allow them to do?

These conversations shape a client’s financial plan, inform decisions and become part of how progress is evaluated over time.

For our industry, this requires more than adding a few personal questions to the discovery process. It means returning to a client’s priorities as consistently as they return to performance. It means discussing not only whether the numbers have changed, but whether the client feels more prepared, more flexible and better equipped to act on what matters most.

This evolution is happening as technology makes financial information, investment products and digital tools more accessible.

Clients may need less help accessing information, but they still need help interpreting their choices, weighing difficult trade-offs, staying grounded when life or markets become uncertain, and deciding what a meaningful life looks like for an individual or family.

At Thrivent, we see this in conversations about whether someone can care for a parent, help a child weather an unexpected setback, give generously or pursue a new opportunity.

These moments make the purpose of financial advice tangible. Performance matters because of what it makes possible.

The next competitive advantage

Performance will always matter. But as client expectations continue to evolve, our industry's greatest value may be helping people understand what their financial resources make possible and giving them the confidence to act on what matters most.

Teresa  Rasmussen is president and chief executive officer of Thrivent, a Fortune 500 financial services company, where she also serves on the Board of Directors and its Executive Committee.