“A good plan is like a roadmap: it shows the final destination and usually the best way to get there” – H.S. Judd (American Author)
At Delta4, our main objective is to see our clients reach financial independence (amongst other life goals). To help our clients reach this objective, we build custom financial plans – tailored to each client’s specific wants, needs, goals and circumstances.
In the financial services industry, the Financial Planning Institute’s (FPI) Code of Ethics and Practice Standards prescribes a six-step process for financial planning and related activities. This process not only represents the best practice for financial planning but also highlights the standard level of performance required from every financial planner. At a macro level, the FPI’s six-step process (and other guidelines) is one way to ensure that:
-Financial planners are Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) and
-Providing a standardised level of advice across the financial planning industry.
With this article, we aim to give clients a better idea of what this six-step process entails, as well as how we implement this at Delta4. While the industry calls this the “six-step process”, at Delta4, we call it: “Your Journey towards Financial Independence”.
In line with TFC and the FPI Code of Ethics, a typical financial journey with Delta4 looks like this:
Step 1 ─ Establish a Business Relationship: A potential client’s first point of contact with Delta4 is an informal meeting. This meeting aims to have a broad discussion on the client’s needs, ─ to inform the client about the value of financial planning and to define the scope of engagement between the advisor and client. While this isn’t dancing lessons, we believe that it takes two to tango and that any decision with long-term consequences should not be made lightly. This is a no-strings-attached meeting, where either party has the freedom to “opt out” should they feel a mismatch between factors at play.
Step 2 ─ Collect Client’s Information/ Needs Analysis: If the potential client is interested in continuing this business relationship with Delta4, our next step is to learn as much as we can about the client – so we can provide objective, relevant advice. This includes identifying the potential client’s financial needs, priorities, and objectives. Of course, this cannot be done without having obtained written consent from the client to collect such information. At this point, we analyse the client’s different needs, priorities, and objectives to give us a springboard for developing a well-rounded financial plan.
Step 3 ─ Financial Status Analysis: When we have gathered enough information on the client’s needs we analyse this information. Usually at this stage, we start by putting together different potential strategies (using different quotes from financial product providers) for our clients. With 60+ combined years of experience, the Delta4 team are specialists in guiding our clients towards assessing financial status and determining which steps would help them achieve their financial goals.
Step 4 ─ Develop Financial Planning Recommendations: Based on the potential strategies developed in Step 3, we use Step 4 to add more weight to these strategies. This is done by evaluating the different financial planning services/products and options available, making recommendations on our top picks from this selection and presenting them to our clients in a concise, easy-to-understand format. Here, we put the client in the driver’s seat – where they have full discretion to choose to accept or reject our recommendations.
Step 5 ─ Implement Recommendations/Advice: Only once our client has accepted our recommendations as well as agreed to the pre-determined implementation responsibilities of the applicable parties (in writing), can Delta4 start to apply the proposed advice.
Step 6 ─ Regular Review of Client’s Financial Situation: Lastly, it is our job to consistently monitor and review our clients’ portfolios to ensure that progress is on track and that any changes are identified and managed. At Delta4, we believe in pro-activity and resilience – and we are not afraid to update and adapt our clients’ financial roadmaps accordingly.
If Delta4 had to comment on our process, we would say:
Yes, financial planning takes time.
Yes, we might have some difficult discussions.
Yes, everything will not always be smooth sailing.
But hopefully, when our clients look back in a few years, they will say:
Yes! Delta4 has helped me achieve [insert amazing goal].
Reach out to our experts today: https://www.delta4.co.za/contact-us/