A Great Business to Be In

That’s why it was edifying to read Mike Patton’s August 12 blog on client reaction to the recent market volatility. “I called another client after the 387-point drop in the DJIA. This particular client is approaching retirement and I expected him to be a little concerned. To my surprise he wasn’t. In fact, he said, ‘I trust you completely. Do whatever you think is best.’. . . These are the things that inspire me and are the reasons I do what I do. The common thread between each of these clients is that they didn’t buy a portfolio or a financial plan, they bought advice.” .

That’s why I’m so pleased to have the hard-nosed, insightful writing of Kate McBride on the implications for advisors of the subprime mortgage crisis. You won’t find that story here this month; it was in the August issue, since Kate was also ahead of the curve in her reporting.

I began this column, my 89th for Investment Advisor, by noting how the leaders of the 2007 Broker/Dealers of the Year agreed on the independent advice model’s legs; I’ll close with what I thought was an interesting behavior that occurred during that meeting. After a two-hour interview and as the hour-long photo session drew to a close, these four busy men could be heard gabbing away with each other in the dim light of the photo shoot room on everything from how they run their compliance departments to where and how they hold their annual conventions. They were sharing their business “secrets,” along with their missteps, with peers against whom they often compete. It was such a telling microcosm of this business–I’ve seen it happen among individual advisors so often–that I had to smile. It’s part of what makes independent advisors, and their partners, not only so admirable, but also more savvy than their competitors.