This adviser really connects with his clients

I would trust Richard Salmen with my hard-earned money. And the fact that he is the president of the Financial Planning Association did not influence me in that statement.

I met Mr. Salmen for the first time last week and had the opportunity to discuss several topics affecting investors and the financial advisory business. We talked about his goals and visions for the year ahead as FPA president, how he is tackling various planning and investment challenges with his own clients and how he tries to stay ahead of the technology curve.

The thing that most impressed me about Mr. Salmen is the genuine passion he exhibits when he ex-plains the importance of staying in contact with his clients and the value he places on a holistic approach to financial planning.

(If my adviser is reading this, don’t worry; I am not looking to make a switch — but it wouldn’t hurt to follow Mr. Salmen’s advice.)

Mr. Salmen, who is a senior vice president and senior adviser with GTrust Financial Partners in Topeka, Kan., obviously knows that the secret to long-term success lies in keeping in touch with his clients.

A recent study of high-net-worth investors found that their biggest complaint was that their advisers failed to maintain contact during the financial meltdown.

In fact, 33% of the 1,735 respondents to the 10th annual Phoenix Wealth Survey said their adviser did not take the initiative of calling them at all. What’s more, 25% of investors surveyed by The Phoenix Cos. Inc. of Hartford, Conn., said they made the initial call to their adviser to seek some reassurance.

As a result of the advisers’ deer- in-the-headlights paralysis, 13% of surveyed investors said they planned to look for a new financial adviser.

Talk about a missed opportunity to connect with your clients and to provide a service.

With that study in mind, I asked Mr. Salmen how he handled client calls when it became apparent that the meltdown was serious and that portfolios were evaporating.

“We didn’t wait for the calls to come to us,” he said. “We took a proactive approach because we knew we had to communicate with our clients.”

Mr. Salmen and the team made calls, sent e-mails, brought clients in and focused on life planning.

“Most of our clients weren’t concerned about the investment aspect,” he said. “What they really needed was for us to assure them we would be there to help them through this unprecedented time.”

A majority of the conversations with clients focused on asset allocation, tax issues, cash flow and budgeting and debt issues, Mr. Salmen said.

During the Bernie Madoff mess, Mr. Salmen put clients’ fears to rest by clearly explaining that his firm used an independent custodian for their assets.

As a financial professional and as president of the Denver-based FPA, he said he recognizes the challenge before him and other advisers.

“Revenue is dropping and the workload is increasing, so everyone is being challenged,” Mr. Salmen said. “There’s a great deal of hand-holding, and clients want answers. Advisers have always taken pride in the fact they have all the answers for their clients.”

However, this market meltdown has made it apparent to advisers that dealing with great uncertainty means facing challenges they’ve never experienced, Mr. Salmen said. And advisers have come to realize that they do not have all the answers, he said.

“You don’t get issued a crystal ball when you get your certified financial planner certification,” Mr. Salmen said.

But planners do have access to phones and e-mail, and as the wealth survey indicated, clients most of all want to know that you’re always there for them.

Clearly, Mr. Salmen understands that.

Jim Pavia is the editor of InvestmentNews.

Related Topics: ING Group, Just Thinking