Better Business  

When psychotherapy meets advice

Waller believes most advisers don't really examine 'the why' in a client's financial decision - the feelings and reasons underpinning it - they may ask the question 'why?' but they don't ensure they get to the bottom of it.

"Once you understand that ['why'], it drives all the behaviour around decision making," says Waller.

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Saiman explains: "In terms of what we actually do for clients, yes, we help identify the purpose of their wealth, that is the cornerstone of everything.

"And then we help them create the wealth strategy, which involves a whole number of different avenues like succession planning and structuring and tax efficiency, and the advice that underpins all of that.

"And we advise how the investments should be managed, we assess their risk profile and risk appetite and do what you'd expect wealth managers to do. We think of that as the left brain conversation. 

'We are aiming to influence the industry towards this way of thinking, because we think there's no other way to do it' (Carmen Reichman/FTA)

"But it's fed by the right brain, it's fed by the more emotive, the more creative, the more irrational, and that is where we get the conversation to, that is the depth we go into."

It is commonly accepted that the left side of the brain controls speech, comprehension, arithmetic, and writing, and therefore is generally thought to be predominantly in use during a typical wealth management meeting, whereas the right side, which controls creativity, spatial ability, and artistic skills, is often not.

"If we can come away from a conversation understanding the purpose of their wealth and that client's values and yes, all of the hygiene factor information we need to know anyway from a regulatory and common sense point of view, then we can put together a meaningful strategy," says Saiman.

"If we don't have, or don't understand, that client's purpose of wealth, frankly, I don't see us as being able to give any sort of insightful wealth strategy that's going to do anything hugely transformative for them."

A lot of Six Degrees' practice hinges on creating a space with clients that allows them to ask the right questions leading them all the way down to their inner person.

This is where psychotherapy comes in. They key is asking the right questions and challenging when the opportunity arises.

For instance, there may be questions the client hasn't thought of before about why they are doing things or why they say they want certain things.

And as many who have been through a form of coaching in their life will know, being asked questions one hasn't thought of before, analysing one's true motivation for doing things, is hard but can be rewarding.

Six Degrees also recognises the importance of the support field around the client when it comes to putting together an effective wealth strategy, be it their family or business partner or both. And it places great emphasis on the need to bring all these people into the equation.