What services do clients want?

Advisor Group’s 2013 Salary Survey, fielded this spring, reveals that some clients either don’t remember or aren’t being offered services other than investment management: 22% say they don’t receive annual account reviews, and 61% say they don’t get formal, written financial plans.

What’s more, 65% of clients report advisors aren’t bringing in or providing information from specialists—but what may be more likely is that advisors aren’t making it clear when they do so.

See below for what clients say they’re already getting, and what they’d pay for.

n=999. Margin of error: +/-3.1%, 19 times out of 20. Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100.

Data illustrations by Lena Diaz

Nicholas Miazek, Fiera Capital Corp.

Why don’t advisors tell clients when they bring in experts behind the scenes?

“The key advisor doesn’t want to water down his role. I suspect that because the relationship is such a valuable component of the client’s service, a lot of advisors only put themselves forward.”

Paige Maclean, Macquarie Private Wealth

How do your referral arrangements work?

“Sometimes we’ll go with the client [to meet the expert], and sit in to help because we’re familiar with the situation, and we can ask questions he or she wouldn’t think of asking. And in other cases, where our participation is less needed, we refer them and get feedback later from both the client and the other professional.”

Sybil Verch, Raymond James

Can you help with tax if you’re not an accountant?

“I ask clients to bring in copies of tax returns for the last few years. I have a list of things to look for, such as whether they’ve claimed all deductions and whether they’re income splitting. I quite often spot overlooked opportunities. I also check if the investment returns claimed align with what’s been earned. Then, I work with each client’s accountant and lawyer. We don’t meet face-to-face often, but we correspond by email and phone on a regular basis.”

For how to present your external relationships and why to integrate tax and estate planning, see Keep clients devoted and Which services do clients value most?