BEHAVIORAL FINANCE IN ACTION

If you have been in the industry for very long, you have probably heard about Behavioral Finance.  I love listening to experts talk about biases and how they affect markets and individual investing behavior.  It's so academically interesting but very hard to figure out how to implement. 


For years my general impression of Behavioral Finance was interesting but academic. 


How do you implement and scale "interesting, but academic" within your practice?  If you are like me, you don't.


Research from Vanguard suggests that working with a financial advisor adds around 3% annualized return over time for clients.


Take a moment to look at this graphic from Vanguard's report.  

You will notice that Behavior Coaching can add up to 2% to the overall value that an advisor brings.  2%!


It would be easy to ignore Behavioral Finance as an "interesting, but academic" concept, except it is an integral part of the value we bring to the client relationship. 


It has been vital, but elusive…until now.  


About a year ago, one of my team members introduced me to Atlas Point.  She told me how cool this new BeFi tool was and that I was going to love it. 


If you know me, I am uber skeptical of spending money on new widgets that drive up the cost of the tech stack and add little value.   I nodded and smiled and proceeded to ignore her!  (Sorry, Leslie!) 


A couple of months later, I had the opportunity to experience Atlas Point myself and I was immediately converted.  This is the first company to bring BeFi to life in an actionable and scalable way for the retail financial advisor.  


This is what I have been waiting for! 


With their foundational survey called Financial Virtues, they introduce the idea of 4 distinct behavioral personas.  In about five minutes, a client can find out what color "bull" they are and how their unique biases might play out in their financial lives.  


Financial Virtues feels like a behavioral finance personality test. Take their survey HERE. 

With this information in hand, you can get to know the client or prospect in a whole new way.  Atlas Point says, "Better Financial Conversations Start Here" and I wholeheartedly agree.   


I have great relationships with my clients, but reviewing the Financial Virtues reports with clients has reenergized several client relationships and helped us talk about how I can be a better financial coach for them.


And that is just the beginning! 


Let me ask you, how many clients have reached out with questions and concerns regarding the recent banking crisis?  Even among my very well-trained clientele, I have received several inquiries.  I am guessing you have too. 


What if someone could tell you how each client, with their specific persona and biases, is likely to respond to the specific crisis at hand?  Would that be valuable information to have? 


Atlas Point did just that for all of its platform users.


In one timely email, they… 

1. Outlined the major biases at play. 
2. Which personas were most likely to be affected by each?  
3. How to use the tools on the platform to proactively reach out to your clients. 
4. How to best communicate with each of the personas. 

Read the article HERE. 

How amazing is that?  This is what I mean by BeFi in Action.  This is no longer just academic, it is actionable.  


This is an exciting time to be an advisor when we can use tools and technology to understand our clients better and preemptively respond to their concerns in the language that will be most effective for them.  


Because I am so excited about how Atlas Point is impacting my practice, I have invited them to guest present on our April IMPLEMENTATION Monthly Mastermind call on April 28th at 11 am (MT). 


I want to extend the invitation to everyone in our community to learn more about Atlas Point and how to bring BeFi to life in your practice. 


If you would like to join our live IMPLEMENTATION Monthly Mastermind call, you can sign-up HERE.  


(IMM is normally a paid group coaching program and you are invited to attend this event at no cost or obligation) 

I hope that you join us on our April call and guests are welcome!   

I hope this serves you, 

-Lucila