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First for the professional personal financial adviser
YOUR JANUARY ISSUE
31 January 2019 | www.moneymarketing.co.za
WHAT’S
INSIDE
WHY VOLATILITY
MATTERS FOR LIVING
ANNUITY INVESTORS
One of the biggest risks pensioners
face is running out of money.
Page 20
WHY YOU SHOULD REMAIN
INVESTED IN RISKY ASSETS
Equities are the only asset class that
can grow an investor’s wealth in excess
Page 11
FINANCIAL SERVICES
COMPLIANCE: NINE
TOP TIPS FOR 2019
This is going to be an
interesting year.
Page 6
Fourie puts Ascor’s scooping of the 2018 Excellence in Client Service, Excellence in
Professional Development and the very coveted Best Regional Adviser Firm Awards down to his team’s sterling work.
“Instead of putting themselves �rst, they consistently put the wellbeing of our clients’ wealth, retirement, health and �nancial planning at the forefront of what we do every day,” he says.
In 2017, Ascor won the Excellence in Investment Planning award and in 2016 won no less than four awards – Excellence in Social Media, Excellence in Use of Technology, Excellence in Marketing and Communication and the overall regional award as Best Adviser Firm.
In a market that is constantly being challenged on all sides by easily accessible �nancial
planning tools and robo-advisers, Fourie believes that Ascor has been able to stand out due to the ethos that nothing can compare with or replace the personal and trusted relationship between a professional �nancial adviser and his or her clients.
“We also believe in creating unique and highly personal plans for each of our clients, which is not something a tool or algorithm can do, especially when it comes to understanding each client’s hopes, aspirations and personal relationship to money.
“We use tools where sensible and we believe that many of
the robo-advice products help to sensitise new investors to the idea of �nancial planning. Many of these clients end up at an independent wealth manager like Ascor a�er they have started their journey on their own and then realised that they need to go to the next level of advice and personalised planning.”
Fourie explains that the role of �nancial advisers is undoubtedly changing. “We have invested a lot of time and funds in the past year in behavioural �nance and �nancial coaching. We want to help our clients best create, manage, protect and ultimately transition their wealth. �is requires more than just �nancial planning and also demands a level of sophistication from our clients. �is is where coaching comes in.”
He adds that his team has also learned that a good understanding of behavioural �nance helps advisers hold frank discussions about wealth building and management with their clients. “�ese discussions shed some light on every client’s personal fears, preferences and assumptions about money, which ultimately leads to a better personal wealth plan.”
Looking back at 2018, when markets were characterised by a sometimes volatile environment leading to anxiety for clients, Fourie says, “We always joke and say that, as a �nancial adviser, you did your job well when your phone doesn’t ring during turbulent times in the market.”
Consistency paves the way to su ccess
Continued on page 3
WE ALSO BELIEVE
IN CREATING
UNIQUE AND HIGHLY
PERSONAL PLANS FOR
EACH OF OUR CLIENTS
Ascor, the Pretoria-based independent wealth manager,
won three out of the six awards at the 2018 International
Adviser Best Practice Adviser Awards ceremony held
recently in Cape Town. MoneyMarketing spoke to Ascor’s
CEO Wouter Fourie about this splendid accomplishment.
Happy New Year to you. �e MoneyMarketing team wishes you good health and abundant wealth in
the twelve months ahead.At the end of last year, together with other
editors, I attended an informal lunch with the SA Reserve Bank governor, Lesetja Kganyago, as well as members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee. �ese lunches have become invaluable as they allow editors the opportunity to chat to those who formulate the country’s monetary policy in a relaxed and casual environment.
Inevitably, this year’s national election in May came up, but the governor graciously stepped around the issue by quipping that while the Bank is very good with numbers, its sta! are not good at reading politics – although the issue of the Bank’s independence was highlighted several times at the lunchtime discussion.
As I’m sure you will recall, Governor Kganyago has had to �ght o! the public protector who proposed changing the constitution to remove the Reserve Bank’s in"ation-target mandate. �e Governor has also made it clear that the ANC’s move to bring the central bank under state ownership interferes with its mandate.
At the lunch, he referred to the recent attacks on the independence of the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England as well as the European Central bank. He warned – and quite rightly, too – that should politicians get their way on central banks, they may then go up against judiciaries and other institutions.
Next month, our �nance minister Tito Mboweni will present his budget – an unenviable task given that the SA election campaign is in full swing. While the minister may succeed in resisting political pressure and while the expenditure ceiling may survive, the weeks leading up to Budget 2019 will be fraught with discussions over high unemployment, inequality and low growth. I’m not expecting too much to happen until a�er the polls.
[email protected]@MMMagzawww.moneymarketing.co.za
Continued from page 1 EDITOR’S NOTE
�is past year, there have been more than enough opportunities for concern, both in the local market and abroad, he says.
“However, we have been in the investment business for over 21 years and have been exposed to good and bad market conditions. Over the past 21 years we have learned that in the investing world, time, trust and opportunity do not count for much unless they are underpinned by a �rm bedrock of consistency, and our process and approach have stayed consistent.
“We have seen good and bad fund managers and our approach to investment planning has stood the test of time, as con�rmed by a client retention rate of 98%.”
He explains that understanding the link between risk and time is the key component to his team’s investment approach.
“We invest a great deal of time in educating our clients that a well-planned, long-term and stable strategy is the only way to build wealth. We also warn that knee-jerk reactions to sudden market movements are bound to destroy wealth.
“Where we have faced a new challenge in 2018, was to manage expectations of constant double-�gure growth in clients’ portfolios. Our second challenge was to be innovative in how we communicate this to clients more e!ectively. In partnership with our discretionary fund manager, we created an animation video to show clients the importance of staying in the market and to not try to time the market. �is has been a great success story and we will use similar methods to educate and communicate important wealth fundamentals in future.”
Turning to the year ahead and its compliance challenges, Fourie points out that when Ascor was started, it was realised that companies in the �nancial sector would face an ever-growing compliance burden. “We made legislative compliance a cornerstone of our business. We try to be ahead of any compliance issue, allowing us to continue without disruption when a speci�c law or regulation is eventually passed,” he says.
Ascor sees new technology as an opportunity, not a threat, “because it can only enrich the personal and highly individualised service that we give our customers”.
Fourie adds that he’s concerned about the level of professionalism in the industry and that he and his team would like to actively help improve this. “We have started lobbying decision makers and industry bodies on issues of compliance, professionalism and best
practice, and will accelerate this in 2019.
“At the same time, we are looking at ways in which we can provide mentorships and guidance to new
independent �nancial advisers and how we can share insights from our journey that will help them. Ultimately, a professional and highly respected independent �nancial advice industry will bene�t all in it.”
Inaugurated in 2016, the International Adviser Best Practice Adviser Awards are managed by International Adviser, a global information and research platform for independent !nancial advisers, and Old Mutual International. "e awards recognise and honour business practice and client service excellence in the !nancial planning community in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the United Kingdom. All categories are judged by an independent panel of judges in the industry.
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THE ROLE OF
FINANCIAL
ADVISERS IS
UNDOUBTEDLY
CHANGING
Wouter Fourie, CEO, Ascor
receives the Excellence in
Client Service Award.
NEWS & OPINION 331 January 2019
NE
WS
& O
PIN
ION
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