A recent article on the need for the human touch in financial relationships made me think about a comment from a fellow advisor. He told me that his Investment Committee meetings are heavy on numbers, performance, statistics, and facts and figures. My reply was this is in keeping with the Department of Labor's rule on a defendable and repeatable process. Also, if that is what his Investment Committee wants (described by the advisor as one hour of drinking from the proverbial firehose), then that is what he should deliver. As he describes it, he prefers sticking to data as there is safety in numbers.
My Committee meetings are a bit different. I focus on investments as this is an Investment Committee meeting after all. However, that is only a third or so of the meeting. I start by checking in with my Committee members to see how the organization is doing. Hirings? Firings? Employees that the organization wants to retain? All of these point to opportunities the advisor may be able to help with.
Beyond that, I like to get a temperature check of the members of the Committee rather than launch directly into the numbers. It is helpful to make sure everyone is centered, mindful, and present as the technical part of the meeting can be pretty intense. For me, it is about respecting the Committee members and where they are at.
I also take time in the Committee meeting to review what I have been doing, what services I have provided the plan, and what trends I am seeing that are relevant to the organization. It is important to show relevancy of what is happening in the retirement plan space. This was particularly true of the SECURE 2.0 act. I read the entire act as soon as it came out. I summarized it for my plan sponsors. And during my Committee meetings, I would point out sections I felt were relevant to the plan. There is a difference between that and just dumping data. And it pays to remind decision makers what it is you have been doing.
Yes, there is safety in numbers but I like to operate on the human side as well. What do you think?