The purpose of every investment plan is to grow over time, but ultimately investment growth is a means to an end. That end might be funding education, securing a dream home, car, or yacht, retiring early, or satisfying some other life goal.

Without having sight of a client’s goals, and being able to monitor the progress of investments towards meeting them, relationship managers are flying blind when it comes to formulating effective investment strategies that will meet client expectations in the long term.

Goals-based planning is fast becoming a competitive differentiator for wealth managers. So, what are the pitfalls for relationship managers who lack visibility of a client’s goals, on a day-to-day basis?

1. Failure to achieve financial goals – ever. This may sound dramatic, even unlikely in a trusted relationship, but how can advisors effectively steer an investment strategy in the right direction when they lack oversight of a client’s goals and are unable to monitor progress against them?
2. Sub-optimal client engagement. When relationship managers have a clear view of “what” a client wants to achieve (usually portfolio growth) but not “why” (i.e. their life goals), how can their engagement be anything more than superficial? And how can this be conducive to a collaborative, satisfying, and trusted relationship?
3. Pressure on service fees. After several years of robo-advisory hype, warm-blooded relationship management is very much still in vogue. Nevertheless, the pressure on fees has never been greater. How can relationship managers who lack visibility of client goals succeed, if McKinsey is correct in their prediction that half of clients will want to pursue “bite-size” goals by 2030?
4. Difficulty in reinstating wealth. With portfolio valuations depleted due to the pandemic, and clients firmly focused on restoring their wealth beyond pre-COVID levels to withstand volatility in the future, how can wealth managers avoid being left in the dark if they fail to incorporate goal-oriented insights into their investment plans?
5. Insufficient time to spend with clients. If relationship managers must search across multiple systems and piece together a multitude of data to get to the bottom of a client’s investment goals, how will they find enough time to spend discussing strategy and execution with every client?