From the President of Crown Haven Wealth Advisors, Casey Marx
Hello Mr/Mrs. John or Jane Q risk advisor, I’m speaking to you-
Because: Your clients are talking to me. They are talking to me because I provide them with something that you can’t. I provide them guarantees that they will never lose another penny due to market loss. I provide them annually compounding growth from within that protected account. I provide them tax-deferral on that growth. I provide them a roadmap to an income account that they will be guaranteed to be able to rely on for the rest of their lives. And God forbid, when my clients perish, their kids or heirs will inherit those funds, without probate, in an expedient manner, their legacy protected.
The best part?
I do this without charging them a fee annually. That’s right, none of my compensation comes out of their pockets. Safety, growth, tax deferral, income, inheritance, no management fees- guaranteed. 1,2,3,4,5,6 guaranteed elements I provide.
By now your clients are confused. You should see the look I get when I show them my accounts exist- it’s usually a mix of pure astonishment, mixed with a feeling of being ill-informed, followed by a why? What? Where? HOW?
So, this is a statement to you fellow advisors keeping your clients in the dark for your financial gain. In my practice, I feel that one of my prime responsibilities is to lift the figurative curtain on finance- explain how it works so my clients GET IT.
As advisors, it’s not our job to push an account. We’re experts, and people trust us with their lives. It’s time that ALL of us treat them with the respect they deserve.
Look, if you want to wax poetic on the virtues of the modern portfolio theory and more specifically, the diversification of your client’s assets as an ill-equipped shield from the genuine dangers of market volatility. The volatility that you consistently expose their hard-earned savings to, then be my guest- this is a free country, and you have first amendment rights to speak your mind just as freely as I do.
But the moment you begin to regurgitate the same broken ideology that thousands of self-aggrandizing money managers have been spouting since the dissolution of the everyman’s pension and the advent of the defined contribution plan. Which by the way the REAL purpose of is risk management to collect a FEE straight out of the client’s pocket and place that money into yours- not to mention the companies you represent- I feel an obligatory duty to speak up.
Because, for the love of everything holy, I certainly hope that even if you’ve drunk the Kool-Aid– your clients haven’t.
I mean, let’s get real- in the relationship between advisor and client, the only person guaranteed to make money is the advisor consistently. Now I’m aware that at this point your clients will ask “but Mr. Marx- doesn’t that mean you consistently make money also?” To this, I would answer simply: “Yes.”
I would also add that the accounts I provide a guarantee that my clients consistently make money without the risk of loss- and my compensation doesn’t come out of their account values. But what troubles me, John and Jane Q Advisor is that your insistence to repeatedly engage in the same behavior with regards to the management of your client’s hard-earned dollars must be exclusively derived from one of two things:
1. Either you have a complete and utter delusion of grandeur that you can somehow make something (i.e., the market) that is inherently volatile and unsafe- safe.
In other words, you are so good, that you can protect them from things entirely out of both of your control. Could it be that you know better, that you can predict the future, that you can guarantee a win at a casino table?
Or. And this is scarier
2. You just don’t care.
Because remember? You’re getting paid anyway.
A famous economist once said there are three types of money managers:
- Those who know they don’t know
- Those who don’t know they don’t know
- And those who don’t know but get paid big bucks to pretend like they do.
If you’re a money manager worth your salt, you’ll admit to these people that you know you don’t know, and maybe then you’ll start taking advantage of the wonderful accounts I provide- or at least stop twisting the facts about my accounts to confuse your clients into maintaining their risk exposure when you know damn well it’s only for your benefit .
Because I, Mr. or Ms. John Q, I’m proud to admit that I know I don’t know. But I’m an expert in my field, which means I know how to implement accounts that have existed many years to protect, grow, and guarantee my client’s futures. Maybe if asked, you’ll admit the same. Or perhaps you won’t. But I hope my statement makes both your clients and mine a little bit more informed.
They deserve it.
