8 The Community Banker mibonline.org Montana Banks Must Offer Quality Wealth Management FEATURED ASSOCIATE MEMBER, CREATIVE PLANNING If you’ve ever seen a fish out of water, then you know exactly what it looks and feels like for a client when they are managing their investments through chaotic and volatile markets. When the fish is flopping around aimlessly trying to find safety in a cold Montana fishing stream, it’s like a client trying to find some form of protection while their account values are falling, and the media is melting down. As all this is happening, imagine a fish somewhere singing, “… take me to the river … put me in the water!” And that’s exactly where we come in: We can help! Clients often look for help after they experience financial pain, whether it’s self-induced, market-driven, or most commonly both. And when a client starts their search, they are often clueless about what to look for. This is a significant problem because it reduces the odds of finding a quality long-term solution. But in their pursuit of finding a good fit, they often start with their bank and take their guidance under serious consideration. And this is where the rubber meets the road: If the bank sells the client an expensive product that produces lackluster results, it may negatively impact the relationship. On the other hand, if the bank does a wonderful job of presenting a quality and longterm solution, the client not only sticks around but becomes even more valuable to the bank! And the cherry on top is client advocacy and the stream of future clients and revenue that can often follow. To put it bluntly, the investment advice universe consists of commissioned salespeople and fiduciaries. Everything being equal, 100% of discerning clients would choose to work with a fiduciary and avoid the inherent conflicts of interest that exist when there is an incentive to sell products that may not be the most suitable: Insurance, Annuities, Loaded Funds, even Timeshares?! These investments often have high initial and ongoing expenses, plus occasionally a few other undesirable things like illiquidity, tax problems, and other nasty gotchas. Investors are becoming more educated and aware, but so are the companies that sell these terrible products. For this reason, we always advocate working with an advisor that is legally bound to act in their best interest 100% of the time, and frankly, there is absolutely no reason not to do this! Many firms claim they are “comprehensive,” but any claim should be both clarified and verified. At Creative Planning, we strive for the best rate of return on a risk, fee, and after-tax basis. We have CFP® professionals, CPA’s, CFA’s, and JD’s working on a client’s behalf, with the assigned wealth manager acting as a single point of contact to coordinate everything. This means the client can rest easy knowing they are getting recommendations from a team that’s deeply invested in their financial well-being. And this team is backed by our own law firm, accounting firm, trust company, P&C division, and other specialty groups. So, when we say
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