Make growth of your advisory business a pandemic silver lining

With COVID-19 causing so much loss in the past four months – both in terms of human life and also missed experiences – InvestmentNews has sought to uncover some silver linings. We’ve featured stories about the charitable goodness of individuals and firms within the advice industry and the sudden red-hot interest in companies thinking long-term about their environmental, social and governance decisions.

One of the brighter outcomes of this difficult time will occur for financial advisers who not only strengthen relationships with their existing clients, but position themselves to attract and win others’ dissatisfied customers. A cover story described this in May, and now we’re hosting an Aug. 4-5 virtual Women Adviser Summit that will include several experts with advice on how to help make it happen.

“As difficult as this continues to be, historically, crises bring with them opportunity,” said Lisa Kueng, director of creative campaigns at Invesco Global Consulting and a Women Adviser Summit speaker. “We’re starting to see people move out of the triage state and into a transition state, where they are saying, ‘How can I not just survive this, but thrive and help my clients to thrive?”

Many a great advisory practice has been built in the shadow of negative markets, Kueng said. When unsatisfied clients look for a new adviser, will they find you?

At the virtual InvestmentNews Women Adviser Summit, Kueng will describe how advisers can use a three-step “catalytic conversation” to take advantage of this unique time and increase the chance of client referrals.

[More: How to draw the line when clients challenge your approach]

Another client-focused session will help advisers deepen their relationships by introducing values-based conversations.

Questions such as, “Who inspires you to help others?” and “Did you ever lose someone special in your life?” can help clients share the causes and passions that drive their thoughts and emotions.

After learning about how to uncover client passions, two experts from Schwab Charitable and Pax Ellevate will describe ways of integrating philanthropy and impact investing into clients’ wealth management plans.

These sessions, as well as others, will help advisers grow the value offered to clients as part of a plan for business growth in the years to come.

Sign up for InvestmentNews’ free, virtual Women Adviser Summit today at https://inwomenadvisersummit.com/.