Every interaction in wealth management can be characterized along two dimensions: the complexity of the client's technical needs and the complexity of the client's personal and family needs. Advisors often attend mostly to the technical dimension, addressing clients' personal issues or family dynamics only when these are overly problematic. Yet, excellent wealth management requires advisors to have a solid foundation in client relationship skills as well as good basic knowledge of family-dynamics situations that commonly arise with wealth.
In an ongoing series of comprehensive articles, Jim Grubman and colleague Dennis Jaffe outline new ways to conceptualize, assess, and implement client-relationship skills and services in integrated family-office-level wealth management.
Client Relationships and Family Dynamics: Competencies and Services Necessary for Truly Integrated Wealth Management - The Journal of Wealth Management, Summer 2010
The Huxtables or the Sopranos? How to Assess a Family's Complexity Factor Early in the Recruitment Process - Private Wealth Magazine, December 2010.
The first published description of the Two-Axis Model was written by Jim with colleague Keith Whitaker for the Family Firm Institute's online journal:
A Two Axis Model of Financial Advising - FFI Practitioner, November 2008.
In this online article in the Journal of Financial Planning, Jim Grubman and Dennis Jaffe gather in one place the fundamental communication skills needed by all levels of financial advisors. These skills are part of the "foundational" abilities necessary for all client interactions as described in the summary table Exhibit 1 from Grubman and Jaffe's Client Relationships and Family Dynamics article from 2010.
Core Techniques for Effective Client Interviewing and Communication - Journal of Financial Planning: Between the Issues, October 2011.
Exhibit 1: Core Client Relationship Competencies and Services for UHNW Wealth Management - from "Client Relationships and Family Dynamics: Competencies and Services Necessary for Truly Integrated Wealth Management," Journal of Wealth Management, Summer 2010.
Clients often complain that the biggest mistake advisors make is to use too much jargon. Being able to explain and discuss technical information in natural-language terms is one of the greatest skills an advisor can have. This article uses a familiar analogy to help advisors remember that information must first be understood in order to be helpful.
Choose Your Words - Financial Planning magazine, November 2010
