We’ve been having an interesting conversation in our office about how often we have been required to complete a questionnaire, how long they have taken and the reason for them.
Some of the recent experiences of our team members:
- Renewing a passport online – 45 minutes;
- Completing a tax return online – 1.5 hours with all the documentation to hand;
- Applying for membership at a local gym – 25 minutes;
- A spouse applying for a part-time position – 35 minutes; and
- Applying for a young child to go to school – 1 hour.
The topic was up for discussion due to occasional objections from advisors and clients taking a 10-12-minute behavioral insights questionnaire to best tailor their
investment advice and financial decisions. Why wouldn’t every investor take 10 minutes to complete a one-time questionnaire that would change their investment approach and increase their wealth?
Moreover, why wouldn’t an advisor use the same 10 minutes to understand how to more effectively advise their clients through a deeper understanding of their own
financial decision-making approach, cognitive biases and communication style?
The pause that empowers the process
Comparing the recent experiences of my colleagues to the 10 minutes it would take to reveal behavioral insights that would benefit both client and advisor for a lifetime of investing seems a no brainer, though I am admittedly biased, having spent nearly 20 years working in behavioral insights.
Even if that has not been your focus, it’s easy to see the value of completing questionnaires as outlined – those geared toward traveling, getting healthy, great kids education, work, and of course tax returns. Yet some question the value of investing 10 minutes as a gateway to a lifetime of behavioral insight-powered decision making (and investing).
Assuming a typical advisor minimum threshold for client investing is $250,000, and based on
Vanguard research with over 56,000 clients, we know that advisors bring 150 bps of additional value to a clients portfolio through behavioral management. That is 1.5%, which means that an advisor has the potential to bring an additional $3,750 annually just by the client investing 10-minutes for completing a behavioral discovery questionnaire.
Whether you start your investment with a $500 gift from grandparents or are reviewing your million-dollar portfolio, take 10 minutes to get a comprehensive insight into your decision-making approach. Then ensure your advisor invests 10 minutes into you by completing the same questionnaire – then you have a wealth creating partnership. From a teenaged investor just setting out to a seasoned investor – the 10 minutes needed to uncover innate behaviors is unlikely to change with age or through various life stages.
Should my client invest 10 minutes?
Very often in my experience it is an advisor perception that clients will object to participating in a 10-minute behavioral discovery process. Yet when clients understand the go-forward value of that investment of their time, they not only are willing but eager to take part in fine tuning their wealth management.
Of course, advisors who want the edge such a behavioral questionnaire provides must choose one that is truly actionable, unlike the many questionnaires we complete that give us no real value and gather dust on a proverbial shelf somewhere. It’s not a one off, but something that provides lasting value as advisors and clients continue to reference the information.
In fact, with the right behavioral discovery tool, the actionable takeaways should be so practical that clients can leverage the behavioral insights in other facets of their lives beyond wealth planning and money decisions.
Clearer picture, clearer roadmap
Other short questionnaires around the financial industry often look at or reveal just one aspect, for example, risk tolerance. They stop short of providing a full picture of who the client is and can short-change both investor and advisor.
These narrower assessments that have been the norm for many years are outmoded. So, it likely is the time now to embrace more comprehensive behavioral discovery which provides a deeper, broader, more practical and lasting result.
As more people are exposed to the value and power of leveraging behavioral insights toward better and more tailored financial advice, it becomes not a nice-to-have extra, but a wanted, needed integral part of tailored, high-net-worth planning.
How many other things do you and your clients spend 10 minutes on that will not have near as great an impact or lasting return?
Related:
Far Beyond Risk-Tolerance Questionnaires
