The art of communication

Homo Sapiens became the dominant species on Earth due to communication. The ability to quickly pass complex information through a group allowed early humans to warn of danger, co-ordinate hunts, and build societies which were greater than the sum of their parts. It’s no coincidence that communication and community share common origins.

And in the modern world, communication is just as crucial. Advisers, in particular, will be all too aware of this, with the last couple of years only serving to highlight just how important regular, effective communication is to enhancing client relationships.

The outbreak of Covid-19 hit financial markets hard, with economies across the globe slowing down significantly, leaving many companies and certain industries suffering as a result. And many advisers would have found themselves regularly considering whether to make portfolio adjustments, in order to protect their clients’ money. And of course, once the pandemic receded, other events started to grab headlines. There’s always something going on in markets!

Investing money continues to be remarkably time consuming. Keeping one eye on the markets. Assessing the impact on model portfolios. Researching and making portfolio adjustments. Rinse and repeat. This process eats into valuable time that advisers could use to communicate with their clients – perhaps the most essential thing to do.

One of the key ways to succeed in investing is to remain calm during turbulent periods, and there’s no shortage of research to show that markets typically recover quickly and often perform better in the aftermath of some sort of shock. Rather than worrying about market returns, one of the most vital things an adviser can do is ensure that their clients don’t let their lizard brains (emotions) take over, and pull their investments completely. It’s no good making the right investment call if clients are already selling to cash.

Our approach to client communication

At 7IM, not only do we support advisers in the running of their portfolios, but we also believe it’s just as important to arm advisers with the tools necessary to deliver engaging insights for their clients.

Typically, a lot of client communication is reactive. But we believe in a different and far more proactive approach, which is why we don’t just respond to market disruption, but also share regular content with our adviser partners and their clients.

We support the advisers’ efforts by producing regular market updates, sharing our views, and not only communicating regularly during the challenging times, but also the good times. However, we equally believe that sending the right messages at the right time is far more important than how often we send them.

We’ve got an experienced team looking after our Model Portfolio Service; we’ve got five experts in our Investment Risk team, and another seven in our Investment Management team, all supported by our dedicated Communications and Content team. It’s because of this that we are able to deliver timely, carefully constructed messages. But doing this isn’t easy. It takes time to build up the expertise and the people.

So, by partnering with us, not only do you benefit from our investment expertise and years of running model portfolios, but also receive support from a company that provides proactive updates. Combined, these two elements offer you a complete service, therefore giving you far more time to spend with your clients and doing what you do best – providing expert advice to help your clients achieve their financial goals.