I offer clients a very personal service. When they call, they speak to me – nobody else. This year, they have been relatively happy with how their portfolios have performed. People don’t necessarily want big returns – they want stability. Hopefully, I have been able to educate my clients that investments will go up and down, but over time they should ensure you achieve your objectives.
One of the benefits of Dynamic Planner is the ability to create and send monthly or quarterly review reports, updating them quickly on the risk level of their portfolio; the value of their investments; and their performance over the last 12 months. Each report takes me less than 10 minutes. Yes, I could send clients an updated valuation in another way, but without Dynamic Planner clients wouldn’t have any comparison, graphically, for performance over the previous month or quarter.
This year (2020), I only had one phone call, at the start of the crisis, from a client who had just started a new business. I told him, ‘I’m here if you need me’. All the rest of my clients waited until I sent them their latest report.
Also, what Dynamic Planner has allowed me to do this year is identify and highlight more easily funds which have performed best in a client’s portfolio. Obviously, with funds which have done well, I can lean towards them more going forwards. I can show that to the client, so they can see why I am making a recommendation to make a change.
I’ve been in the industry for 40 years and back in the day, I designed a very simple spreadsheet to pull everything together in one place, because there wasn’t anything which could do it. When I moved across to Dynamic Planner, some of my clients contacted me to say, ‘I did like the spreadsheet’. I said, ‘Yes, it’s fine, but it’s prone to errors. This is simpler and gives you everything you want’.
In Dynamic Planner’s review reports, clients like the chart showing how their portfolio has performed over the last 12 months. They can see what’s happening – how it’s gone up, gone down and how this year it’s hopefully come back. I can then have a conversation with the client explaining more.
I first started using Dynamic Planner in the autumn of 2019. I use it to risk profile clients through the risk questionnaires and to risk profile and plot their existing investments, which is brilliant. It’s so easy and just a few clicks – then you can show that to the client and say, ‘You’ve come out as a Risk Profile 6 and all your investments are showing as a Risk Profile 6’. Or they’re a 7 and we need to make adjustments to get it to a 6.
Would I recommend Dynamic Planner to another advice firm? Yes I would. It’s so easy to use – and it works on your desktop, your iPad and on your phone.
