Wealth advisor outlines what advisors can do to capture upside in uncertain climate
Joe Di Brita is hearing a lot of uncertainty from his clients. The Wealth Advisor with National Bank Financial explained that his clients are worried about inflation, and how the prospect of more interest rate hikes might impact their portfolios. They’re concerned about the looming US election, and the Canadian one to follow. They’re worried about scary headlines like a US government shutdown, and they’re worried about more market pullbacks. Di Brita is refocusing them on the plans they have in place.
“As a team, we try to stick to the plan as much as possible and not deviate,” Di Brita says. “We establish our clients investment strategy to help them through good times and bad, and we have a focus on quality…We systematize [our clients’] investment process, using our firms’ tools to set up a review schedule, contact our clients, and ensure that we are top of mind and ready to answer any of their concerns.”
Amidst heightened levels of economic uncertainty, Di Brita is hearing a greater push among clients to shift towards “safe haven” investments like fixed income. His response has been measured. His team sees opportunities to capture some higher yields from that asset class, but for clients with a longer time-horizon he continues to advocate for high quality businesses and dividend-paying equities.
Di Brita explained that his firm, Fairway Wealth Management, has always focused on those assets they see as best positioned for the long-term. During the ‘everything rally’ of 2021, when he was getting pitched on the next hot thing in tech, he and his team stayed true to their approach. Now as longstanding equity investors are looking to jump ship, he’s sticking largely to his guns.
“We want to own companies that continue to grow their dividends,” Di Brita says. “We want to own companies with good balance sheets, that don’t have a lot of debt, that are making money and giving some of that back to investors.”
Maintaining that vision, and advocating for it to clients, is a crucial step advisors need to take during periods of heightened worry like the one we’re currently in. Di Brita maintains that deviating from a clients’ agreed plan too rapidly can create greater confusion and greater uncertainty. He uses his firms’ tools to communicate regularly with his clients, ensuring they feel heard and they understand why they’re sticking to their plan.
That begins with the review schedule and regular contacts. Many of the new clients who join Di Brita’s practice will mention that their past advisors weren’t taking enough time with them, or would go silent for a period of months. Di Brita’s team avoids that issue by systematizing their reviews, ensuring a client doesn’t fall through the cracks.
They also reiterate their positions through a weekly email newsletter called the Market Observer. That goes out to their clients every Friday night to keep the Fairway team top of mind on the weekend, when many clients may be reflecting more on their positions.
Fairway is a team that works at National Bank Financial, and Di Brita credits them with providing some of the tools his team relies on for that systematization. He recommends that other advisors look closely at the tools their partners provide them, and find ways to integrate those tools into daily practice.
It may seem like a simple approach to the complex problems clients face today, but often simplicity is the key to success.
“It doesn’t take much to pick up the phone and make a call, or to make sure you’re there to answer it when it rings,” Di Brita says. “If you systematize your practice, and make it run as efficiently as possible, then you can focus on the things that are most important.”
