No Client Request Is Out Of Bounds

As an advisor, what would you do if one of your wealthy and financially conservative clients who was used to flying coach suddenly wanted to skip first class and start flying private?

Or, if a client needed help accessing hard-to-find tickets to a Broadway show?

At Schechter Investment Advisors, CEO Marc Schechter said his staff always looks to help clients.

“No request is unusual anymore,” Schechter said in an interview. “We get non-financial requests all the time. Frequently, they are related to family relationships, medical situations, or career changes, but there can be other situations as well.

The Birmingham, Mich., firm had about $3.5 billion under management as of March 31.

“Your clients become your friends and you want to help your friends,” he added, “and most of the time we find ways to help their situation.”

In the case of the client who wanted to travel by private jet, Schechter said they were frugal in the rest of their spending and could actually afford it, so traveling by private jet was doable and easy to arrange.

“This client has about $8 million in assets and was only spending about $100,000 a year, so there was plenty of room to increase spending without the risk of running out of money,” Schechter said.

The firm keeps in mind that clients may have unusual or seemingly out-of-character requests and is therefore ready to assist when asked, he said.

“It is not something we train for, but if we are successful in hiring the right kind of advisors, then they are going to know how to handle unusual and non-financial situations,” he said.

Schechter said requests also have been fielded that involve family dynamics, such as a business owner who had three children, but only two were going to have stock in the business going forward. In this case, arrangements were made to safeguard all family members to the individuals’ satisfaction.

“The unusual is now usual as advisors provide more holistic planning,” Schechter said. “We provide assistance in making life decisions—human decisions—not just financial decisions. More than half of what I do is acting as a therapist or counselor.”

Advice sometimes is asked for when an individual or family wants to sell a closely held business—does it go to family members and which ones or does it go to an outside party?

If a client couple gets divorced, who stays with the advisor and who goes?

“We have had clients where the divorce is amicable and they both want to stay with our firm, in which case we assign them to different advisors, making sure there are no conflicts,” Schechter said.

“When situations involve something outside our wheelhouse, we bring in experts. No topic is off limits,” he added.

The firm also connects clients when one has knowledge that can help another and when both parties are agreeable.

This article can be seen on Financial Advisor Magazine.