When it comes to supporting your clients, focusing solely on their financial goals is an approach that you’re likely comfortable with. This style of advice – known as the ‘performance maximiser’ – looks almost exclusively at investment performance and money matters. While these components of advice are important, it could mean that you’re missing an opportunity to make clients happier, not just wealthier. Adopting an alternate advice approach – the ‘wellbeing maximiser’ – could improve the financial wellbeing of your clients and benefit your business too.
What is a wellbeing maximiser?
Wellbeing maximisers have the same money management skills as traditional performance maximisers but focus on gaining a deeper understanding of their clients’ deeper needs and what motivates them. They look beyond finances and listen to what brings their clients joy and purpose, what their worries are and what’s most meaningful to them.
By applying insights from psychology and behavioural science, wellbeing maximisers can establish how the needs of their clients fit together – and create a tailored plan suited to each individual.
The benefits of being a wellbeing maximiser
Being a wellbeing maximiser could help you create more effective financial plans, and form deeper, longer-lasting relationships with clients. We surveyed 250 advisers and asked them to identify as a wellbeing or performance maximiser. Of the wellbeing maximisers:
- 43% reported high profit margins, in contrast to 35% of performance maximisers.
- 77% forecast that their profitability would improve, versus 64% of performance maximisers.
- Significantly more wellbeing maximisers have a positive outlook for the financial advice sector over the next 5 years than performance. maximisers, and reported higher levels of referrals from their clients
- Wellbeing maximisers were also less concerned about losing their jobs to robo-advisers.
So, how do you become a wellbeing maximiser? Check out our top tips in this infographic.
Resources to support you
Take a look at our resources to equip you with the tools to becoming a wellbeing maximiser:
- Learn the techniques of being a wellbeing maximiser in our Becoming a Wellbeing Maximiser webinar, led by Dr Thomas Mathar, Head of Centre for Behavioural Research.
- Access our templates with handy worksheets and questionnaires to help you have these meaningful conversations with your clients.
- For more resources, you can also check out our financial wellbeing hub.