I may outgrow you

If a client leaves, it’s likely nothing personal, notes Mortifee. Needs evolve and a person’s relationship with money is never static.

“Part of the reason we’ve let go of advisors in the past was because the capacity of the advisor to provide what we needed wasn’t there,” he says. “We outgrew them; not in terms of assets but in their level of sophistication. There is no endgame. It’s a process.”

As for Greg Christie, “Our prior advisor was a good guy but was strictly managing funds. And our business wasn’t as complex [then]. As it grew, we needed more expertise. The new team asked a lot of questions the other advisor didn’t—about things like insurance options; longer-term estate planning; what my family’s goals are; and working that backwards to how the business will transition [as a result].”

He adds the subject-matter experts Elizabeth Harding and her team can draw on have served him well, and he solicits counsel on both financial and non-financial matters. “The people they’re connected with are impressive.”

Difficulty getting the right results led Norris to cultivate multiple brokerage relationships. “I’d never work with just one advisor,” adding he works with three, but considers Kett his go-to. “If anything ever happens to me, I’ve told my wife to hand the whole kit and caboodle to Cynthia. And I’d rather have her in that role than a money manager. That would be deadly.

“Cynthia looked at the wills that were drawn up with a prior lawyer, tore them apart and corrected many things that had been left out.

“I like having one planner who doesn’t sell anything; who’s neutral and charges by the hour.”