The Investment Center believes that the advisory business is a dynamic, interactive process that requires knowing your clients as best as you can. Being a fee-based advisor helps you establish trust with more sophisticated clients, but also confers the responsibility to add value through the quality of the service you provide.
High-net-worth investors are interested in simplifying their financial lives; thus, they seek investment professionals who are advice-oriented, rather than merely acting as purveyors of product. Through the investment management process found in the fee-based world, you earn your fee by determining the client’s investing needs, crafting an asset allocation plan, analyzing suitable investments, and monitoring the portfolio instead of researching investment ideas (a role delegated to a professional money manager) for a commission. The fee-based model encourages the rep to build a long-term relationship with the client, as future compensation is based directly on the value of the client's account.
