Jim Grubman works closely with State Street Global Advisors through their online practice development service, SPDR University. Through innovative webcasts, resource materials, and whitepapers, he is on the forefront of training in the financial services industry, guiding professionals towards a deeper understanding of the issues clients face and how to address them with trust.
Visit SPDRU to view, hear, and download content useful for HNW financial advising such as the following:
Bridging the Trust Divide - This whitepaper with associated webcast and podcast (requires free registration) by State Street Global Advisors and Knowledge@Wharton explores key elements of trust in the advising relationship. Jim offers commentary on the research findings plus a down-to-earth set of recommendations about the highly-charged area of fee discussions, an area where many advisors fall short.
Effective Fee Discussions with Clients: 2011 - In an expansion and updating of the topic of fee discussions from Bridging the Trust Divide, this advisor resource goes into depth about understanding and handling communications with clients about fees.
Managing Clients' Reaction to Risk - This cutting-edge use of web technology provides video coaching by Jim Grubman using an interactive format to help advisors talk effectively with their clients about risk. Through three different client scenarios, advisors choose answers and get immediate feedback about the effectiveness of their responses.
The Financial Advisor's Guide to Active Listening - This easy-to-follow resource, combining both text and diagrams, explains how to use active listening to go deeper in conversations with clients.
Listen Before Advising: Using Structured Interview Techniques to Satisfy Clients - In a question-and-answer section in this webcast with Hannah Shaw Grove, Jim helps discuss how advisors can get to know what's important for clients, deepening and improving the advising relationship.
Many high-net-worth advisors want to help clients open communication within the family about legacy issues, inheritance conversations, and financial literacy education. This white paper, developed for Pioneer Investments, outlines the fundamental concepts, activities, and business aspects for this service area in wealth management. A resource guide accompanies the material.
Evolving Your Practice - Pioneer Investments White Paper
Moments of major change for clients can occur due to job loss, the recent passing of a loved one, or even a sudden windfall of wealth. Advisors can offer unique value by helping clients steer a steady course through the turbulent emotions associated with these events. This webinar for State Street Global Advisors discusses the psychology of three life-changing events, offering useful guidance for how to listen and respond to a client with patience and wisdom.
Clients in Crisis: The Financial Psychology of Life Changing Events - SPDR University webinar
Many family offices and wealth management firms promote their client-centered approach, yet the physical environment of the firm's office speaks "financial" or "business" more than "client." Conversations about difficult personal issues and family dynamics can feel impersonal across a large conference room table, stifling discussion and limiting how much clients will really disclose what's on their mind. The room must fit the purpose of family wealth advising, encouraging conversations not only between advisor and client but between different generations or branches of a client family.
Many of the firms Jim Grubman has consulted to have established what they euphemistically call a "Grubman Room" - a living-room atmosphere of comfortable chairs, sofas, and tables where client meetings can be held. Modern technology is available via flat-panel monitors, wireless input devices, and computer servers, yet these are discreet and secondary rather than the main focus of attention. Every firm implementing this type of room has found that clients embrace the environment, conversations go deeper than ever before, and most clients don't want to go back to meeting in a fluorescent-lit, conference-table-dominated room again.
The following YouTube video describes an interview between a journalist and renowned AIA/LEED-accredited architect, Doug Quackenbush of Quackenbush Architects + Planners, concerning the design and implementation of one such room at Abacus Planning Group in South Carolina (main description occurs between times 04:00 and 07:40):
How to Design a Financial Advisor's Office - YouTube video
