Journal of Financial Planning: December 2020
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When he was a little boy, one morning before school, Jamie Hopkins, J.D., CFP®, LL.M., CLU®, ChFC®, RICP®, said good-bye to his father for the last time. His father went to work, an was in an accident, and passed away.
It was just his mom to support the kids and put them all through college—all with no life insurance or retirement savings.
During the one-day, online Financial Planning Spectacular held in October, Hopkins shared that this experience framed how he forged his relationship with money and why he eventually made the jump from law into the financial services profession.
Clients all have a story like this, and knowing these things is key to becoming successful in the future. And knowing those stories is part of what Hopkins says are essential items for the profession to have to move forward successfully in the future: trust, care, and commitment.
Trust. Hopkins said the most recognizable name in financial services is Bernie Madoff, thief and Ponzi-schemer extraordinaire, and most people don’t trust the financial services profession.
“We are a service profession, and we don’t have trust,” Hopkins said.
How do we become a trusted profession? Hopkins said it starts with the other two elements in this article: care and commitment.
Care. In order to forge that must-needed trust, you have to care about your clients. Know those stories, like the one Hopkins shared in his presentation. Expand your reach to more people who need help, not just ultra-high-net-worth clients. Lean on technology to do that.
“Technology is going to allow more advisers to serve more people,” Hopkins said.
We need to make the move from people seeing this as a profession of Madoffs to one where people see you genuinely care about your clients.
“It’s not just a job; we want to make this a profession,” Hopkins said. “You want to serve families? You have to have a care factor.”
Commitment. The backbone of fiduciaries is that you get paid for the value you provide, Hopkins said. Provide value to the best of your ability and charge in a way that reflects that. Charging hourly penalizes people who work faster but better. Commit yourself to working in the best interest of your clients.
“We need to put clients first, always,” Hopkins said. “If we commit this as an actual profession, if we commit to lifelong learning and ethics, that demonstrates our commitment.”