How investment goals and personal values intertwine: AstuteWheel

Financial planning software provider, AstuteWheel, has suggested how financial advisers can deliver for clients by connecting their investment goals and personal values. 

AstuteWheel Director, Michael Topper, said a recent report from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) confirmed this after 88 per cent of Australians expect their investments to be responsible and ethical, as an example of values-based investing. He said, however, the challenge lies with how financial advisers translate values into investment goals.

“US research shows that clients who feel their values are reflected in their financial plans are more satisfied with the advice than those who do not and clients of advisers who initiate a values-based discussion are likely to recommend them to a friend or colleague.

“Give a client a blank sheet of paper, ask them to write down their values, and you may get a blank sheet of paper back. This is not surprising, you might struggle to articulate your own.

“A values tool helps your clients walk through a process that is both valuable and enjoyable. It is also a structured and repeatable process that can become part of how you work with increasingly values-driven clients.

Build a sound strategy, starting with the client’s own unique values, and you will be able to create a financial plan that actually inspires them to achieve their goals. The strategies and products required to achieve their goals should then fall more easily and naturally into place.”

AstuteWheel’s own values tool provides a secure online portal for clients to select the top 15 most important values that they want to achieve with their investments out of the available 49. With the help of their financial adviser, their preferred values are then reduced to a more achievable seven.