Rogan & Associates is truly blessed with great clients who compliment us by referring their friends and family. I’m often asked to explain what it is we do that sets us apart from other financial services firms. It occurred to me this week that one of the most important things we do for people is to give them what I call, the Gift of Stay.

A long-term client of ours is fond of saying that we have the easiest strategy for investing money he has ever known. Once we create your financial plan based on your goals and needs, we only make adjustments as changes in your life dictate. Our process for selecting the money management teams we work with has not, historically, found us needing to make many changes. This client contrasts this with his previous financial advisor who made big changes constantly, pitched the financial product du jour, and lost the client significant money! And while he states that he’s never before experience such consistent returns, as he has as a client of R&A over the past couple of decades, I reminded him that his investment performance is only part of the story.

Most people who come to see us want to build their wealth. And most are used to the industry norm of trading and timing, of jumping in and out of the market guided by breathless headlines of looming disaster or pitches of hot ideas. Frequently, as in this client’s case, it takes significant work on our part to get you to stay. I would argue that while this may not be a complicated strategy, it might be the most difficult one.

At a recent client dinner, I relayed to those in attendance that after periods of market growth, clients tend to be fond of us, but it could be argued that it’s during periods of volatility that we earn our keep. This is a prime example of giving the Gift of Stay. It isn’t nearly enough for us to tell people to leave their investments intact after they experience a short-term decline in the market prices of the investments. We have to have laid the solid foundation from day one in our relationship to have gained the credibility necessary to overcome their innate panic, egged on by our vitriolic financial media.

From the first meeting with a prospective client, through the annual reviews, client dinners, happy hours, and more, we continually stress the importance of a financial plan. At R&A, our only minimum requirement to become a client is a commitment to creating a financial plan. From the structure of the plan, we can create the appropriate portfolio mix for a client, along with the needed contingency plans should events in their lives threaten to interrupt the execution of the plan.

When emotions run high and all of your friends are panicked, we can remind you that whatever is the fear of the day, we’ve planned for it. Not by planning to change the plan, but rather by understanding that the plan is the gift that helps give you the confidence to stay.

This same gift exists with how we run the firm. We have a plan for the succession of the firm in place so that you can expect R&A to outlive all of us. Each of our planning teams has planners of staggered ages. This both allows us to be able to relate to you, your children, and your parents. As some of us at the firm become more “experienced” in life, you can rest assured that plans are in place to transition our firm to the younger planners over the long-term. And like you, all they must do is stay. This strategy is why I have been personal friends with the members of our team for years and often decades. We genuinely believe that it’s all about the relationship.
So while it may not be the easiest or the most difficult of strategies, we are convinced that the greatest gift we can give is the “Gift of Stay”.

As we have reminded clients for more than a quarter century, turn off the news and take a cruise!