CAPÍTULO I. INTRODUCCIÓN Y DESARROLLO DEL CONTROL
4.1.2. MODELO TEÓRICO
An adviser must know the customer before being able to provide appropriate advice. It is essential to establish the fullest details about the client – not only their assets and liabilities but the life assurance or protection products or arrangements that they may have in place. Their family circumstances, health and future plans and expectations are equally important.
In this section, we will consider some of the key client information that an adviser needs to establish.
3.1.1 Establishing Rapport
Most financial firms spend significant amounts of time and money on training their advisers in communication techniques. Techniques that need to be honed include:
• establishing rapport with the client;
• making clear early on what the purpose of a meeting is;
• explaining that the information collection exercise is to ensure the quality of the advice that will be given;
• using a mixture of open and closed questions to establish the information needed;
• using everyday terminology and explaining jargon when it has to be used;
• checking understanding;
• establishing the priorities and getting the client to confirm their agreement;
• guiding and controlling the pace of the interview.
It is also about listening – the best financial advisers are the ones who listen to what the client wants, establish rapport with the client and then mutually agree what needs to be done.
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At the end of the day, short-circuiting the process by not ascertaining all relevant information is alien to any professional approach and is in fundamental contradiction to the adviser’s fiduciary duty and to all regulation.
3.1.2 Collecting Details
There is no simple way of establishing all of the necessary information quickly. The adviser will need to undertake a detailed, and potentially lengthy, interview with the client in order to understand what existing assets and liabilities they have before turning to developing a true understanding of what their needs are.
There is also no single way of collecting all of the required information. Most firms use a ‘Know Your Customer’ questionnaire or fact-find that the adviser completes during their interview with the client so that the information can be collected in a logical and straightforward manner and can be available for later use. The advantage of this approach is in its consistency, the factual record it creates and the opportunity for quality-checking that it provides. Its disadvantage is the customer’s reaction to what they may perceive as a lengthy form-filling exercise – hence the need for good communication skills.
Only having completed this process can the adviser then start on the next significant stage: to identify potential solutions and then match these to the client’s needs and demands.
Before we look at why this information is required, use the following exercise to work through your own ideas. Be aware that the scale of potential information that might be relevant is significant, so there is no simple ‘right’ answer. Everyone is different, so the information needed will vary.
Exercise
Use the following table or a separate piece of paper to record why such information might be needed.
Information needed Why needed?
Personal details Health status
Details of family and dependants Details of their occupation, earnings and other income sources
Estimates of their present and anticipated outgoings
Assets and liabilities Any pension arrangements
Potential inheritances and any estate planning arrangements, such as a will
The following sections provide examples of why the information above is needed.
3.1.3 Personal Details
Details of the client’s name and address will need to be verified to comply with anti-money laundering requirements by inspecting photo ID plus official documents that prove the address, such as a utility bill.
The client’s date of birth will clearly establish their age and this should immediately start to indicate the stage of life they have reached, which may have implications for any asset allocation strategy. It will also give an indication of their potential viewpoint on long-term investments.
The client’s age may also be relevant when looking at their assets. If they hold quoted investments that are showing substantial gains, then their age may be a relevant factor in considering the extent to which these should be sold and diversified into other investments. An elderly client who has had a portfolio for many years may well be sitting on significant gains and, if these were sold, a liability to capital gains tax (CGT) may arise.
The client’s place of birth should be established, as this may have a bearing on their residency and domicile, which in turn may affect their tax liabilities. Tax ID numbers will also be needed, as they may be required for any tax-free wrappers that may be selected and for any tax-reporting requirements that may have to be met.
3.1.4 Health Status
The client’s health status will need to be established: that is, whether they are in good health or have any serious medical conditions that may influence their investment objectives and attitude to risk.
3.1.5 Details of Family and Dependants
Details of the client’s family and dependants will normally be established as part of the fact-finding exercise.
Where the client has been married previously, the adviser should determine the extent of any ongoing divorce payments that might be relevant to the investment strategy.
Where the client has young children there may be a need to provide funds for school fees or university education. These may need to be planned for separately, and give rise to not just multiple investment objectives but potentially different attitudes to risk.
3.1.6 Details of Occupation, Earnings and Other Income Sources
The fact-find will seek to establish details of the client’s business and occupation and the income that they earn from this and other sources.
Clearly, it will be necessary to establish what the client’s income is, from whatever sources it arises.
However, the client’s occupation may be a relevant factor for investment decisions in other, less obvious ways. First, the client’s occupation or business will give a good indication of their experience in business
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matters. Establishing the client’s occupation may also lead the adviser to realise that there may be issues with dealing in certain stocks if the client holds a senior position in a company.
A client may also potentially be a politician or hold a senior position which is in the public spotlight.
Where that is the case, they often need to distance themselves from any investment decision-making so that there can be no accusation of them exploiting their position or knowledge. In such cases, it is often common to establish a blind trust, where all investment decisions are taken on a totally discretionary basis and where the client is deliberately kept unaware of trading decisions or their rationale.
3.1.7 Present and Anticipated Outgoings
The client’s outgoings need to be understood in conjunction with their income, where it is necessary to look at budgeting, planning to meet certain liabilities or generating a specific income return.
3.1.8 Assets and Liabilities
Full details of the client’s existing assets and liabilities will need to be known.
As part of the anti-money laundering checks (reviewed in Chapter 2, Section 2.4) that the adviser will need to undertake, the source of the client’s funds will need to be established. When investigating the source of the client’s wealth, it is possible that the adviser may become aware that the client has undertaken some dubious activity such as deliberately evading paying tax. The adviser needs to exercise extreme care over this, as tax evasion and similar exercises are classed as financial crime.
As well as obtaining details of the client’s assets, the adviser should also look to establish:
• the location of the assets and whether any investments are held in a nominee account;
• the tax treatment of each of the assets;
• whether any investments are held in a tax wrapper;
• acquisition costs for any quoted investments held, including any calculations needed for assessing any liability to capital gains tax;
• details of any early encashment penalties.
The information needed will vary by type of asset.
Asset Information Needed
Bank and Savings Accounts
Account type and details Balance
Branch where account is held Interest rate on the account
When interest is paid and whether there are any bonuses payable Any early encashment penalties
Asset Information Needed
Quoted Investments
Full title of each instrument
Nominal amount of stock or shares held Dates of purchase
Acquisition costs
Where the stock is held and in what name it is registered Details of any pending corporate actions and dividends
Mutual Funds/
Collective Investment Schemes
Full title of each fund
Number of units or shares held Dates of purchase
Acquisition costs
Whether the holding is certificated or uncertificated and in what name it is registered
Any exit fees
Frequency of valuation points if fund redemptions are infrequent
Tax-Exempt Accounts
Account type and details
Eligibility criteria for tax exemption Assets and cash held
Whether further additions can be made in current tax year
Whether account can be transferred without loss of tax-exempt status Tax ID reference
Structured Products
Type of product
Details of sum payable and any guarantees Conditions to be met for payment
When purchased and cost
Whether it is with-profits or unit-linked
Details of unit-linked funds and number of units held When purchased and costs
Any encashment penalties
Details should be established of any liabilities that the client has, and whether these are covered by any protection products.
3.1.9 Pension Arrangements
The pension arrangements the client has made will need to be closely linked to the investment strategy that is adopted both for retirement and other financial objectives. Retirement planning is covered in more detail in Chapter 7. The availability of tax exemptions for pension contributions may influence the choice of investments and so clearly needs to be factored in at this stage.
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