We like to refer to ourselves as a REAL Financial Planning firm here at Metis Ireland. We rarely use the term Financial Advisor because we believe that it doesn’t tell the full story of what we do every day or how we add value to our clients.

 

Interestingly though, an analysis of google search terms, shows that many more people search the term Financial Advisor (or Adviser) than the term Financial Planner (or Planning). Why is that I wonder? I don’t know the answer other than it’s probably the most used term by the vast majority of financial product sales people and REAL Financial Planning firms like Metis Ireland are still in a tiny minority.

 

I was intrigued therefore to read this article from Morningstar, citing Vanguard research, clearly showing that investors score their “Financial Advisors” predominantly on how their investment portfolios are performing.

 

Read Article here: Morningstar: Study says advisory clients are stuck on investment performance 

 

This is at odds with the Vanguard research that shows that the most value that an Advisor can add is actually through behavioural coaching or in more straight forward terms – making sure the investor has the discipline to Stick With The Plan.

 

So, what should we do at Metis Ireland? Ditch our beliefs and our values and run with the crowd? Pretend that we know what is going to happen next in the Stock Markets? Provide comforting lies to our clients? Basically, should we try to make a quick buck and focus on the short-term money?

 

NO, NO, NO and NO!

 

Metis Ireland was established to provide expert and REAL Financial Planning for our clients and to ensure that we are adding value in the long term by:

 

  • Creating Individual Financial Plans
  • Matching the money with the lifestyle goals
  • Asking searching questions like:
    • What’s the Money For?
    • What are your goals dreams and ambitions?
    • What legacy do you want to leave behind?
    • If money wasn’t an issue, what would you do now, next year in 5 years?
    • If you had only one year to live, what would you do?

When you start answering these questions (with a little help from your Financial Planning team), you start to appreciate why you are investing, what you should be investing in and how long you should remain invested. You stop worrying about short term market volatility and you can ignore the high stool expert who made a killing in the latest ‘Total Punt Double My Money’ share.

 

But we are all too aware, that with the best laid plans, human emotion can get in the way of even the most logical and long-term thinker. That’s why we are always going to have the courage of our conviction and we will never be afraid to tell our client what we think.

 

We will always tell the unpleasant truths.

 

We will always act with integrity and in our clients’ best interest.

 

Our mission is to ensure our clients #StickWithThePlan.

 

We will keep you in your seat, when all around you, short-term investors are making fatal money decisions.

 

That all sounds great! But how do we prove that we are serious about this? Here’s how …..

 

We spent lots of time, effort, energy and money creating our white paper, ‘Making Better Decisions – Know Your Behavioural Biases’. We will be launching a series of blogs on this topic in the next week or so and you will be able to download a copy of our white paper. We have taken great care to make sure that this is something that can be consumed in about 30 minutes, cover to cover.

 

It’s our contribution to help every investor, no matter how big or small. The Vanguard research tell us that managing investor behaviour (either through investor self discipline or through expert advice) will add 1.5% per annum to your investment portfolio.

 

Put another way, over 10 years you could be talking about as much as an extra 20%+ on your investment.

 

You can thank us in 10 years. We’ll still be here …. telling the same story ….. but most likely to lots more clients who have come around to focusing on their very own financial plan and not the latest stock market threat.

 

For context, in 10 years, have a read of this and tell me if Brexit had such a big affect on your investment portfolio after all? Nope, didn’t think so! (BTW – are we all in driverless cars now?)

 

Call us to have that first cup of coffee and chat about how we can help you create your very own financial plan.

 

Carl Widger
Co-Founder & Director
Email: cwidger@metisireland.ie

 

 

 

Disclaimer

Metis Ireland Financial Planning Ltd t/a Metis Ireland is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

All content provided in these blog posts is intended for information purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial advice. You should always engage the services of a fully qualified independent financial adviser before entering any financial contract. Metis Ireland Financial Planning Ltd t/a Metis Ireland will not be held responsible for any actions taken as a result of reading these blog posts.

Disclaimer


Metis Ireland Financial Planning Ltd t/a Metis Ireland is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.


All content provided in these blog posts is intended for information purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial advice. You should always engage the services of a fully qualified financial adviser before entering any financial contract. Metis Ireland Financial Planning Ltd t/a Metis Ireland will not be held responsible for any actions taken as a result of reading these blog posts.