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There really isn't a specific type of client that we cater to. We wouldn't, for example, describe our ideal client in terms like "professional, aged 30 to 50", or "self funded retiree", or even something more specific like a particular occupation group or union.
If we do have a typical kind of client it would be wealth builders, those with a strong desire to maximise wealth and wanting to have a comprehensive strategy that uses "every trick in the book" to maximise returns with a minimum of risk, these types of people work in all professions, are of all ages and may be high income earners or otherwise.
Although we do not seek to deliberately market to any particular demographic, the fact that our web site is so popular means that we've got a client base of people who tend to be on the Internet a lot.
As you might expect, our client base is dominated by people in the information technology profession and academics, together these make up about three quarters of the people we see. The remaining quarter are casual Internet users, or the relatives of existing clients who have been referred to see us.
Our emphasis is on providing the highest quality of advice while doing everything we can to reduce costs, including transaction costs, management expenses and taxes. It isn't our objective to deliberately attract a fee conscious client base, merely those a little more discerning than most who are too smart to pay what is charged by many full commission advisers.
Many of our clients are already quite experienced investors, who for years have done most of their own investment via discount brokers. These clients come to us because they realise that between our advice on asset allocation and my extensive research on funds and tax strategies, plus our low fees, they are able to get higher returns with lower risk when they work with me than when they could on their own.
Our ongoing fees are usually less than what many funds pay in trail commission, so many of our clients find that the fees they pay with us can come in well below what they would pay even if they dealt with a discount broker.
By charging less, and providing good service, it is our objective to build up a long term satisfied client base that see us as their most dedicated professional adviser. Our intention is always to retain a client for life, while we don't force anyone to sign binding contracts it is our ultimate goal to provide such good service that clients do not want to leave.
Many of our clients are high net worth individuals with more than a million dollars to invest, but we are just as happy to talk to those just starting out.
The first book that Travis is writing is called "Starting from Scratch", and just happens to deal with the topic of how to build wealth from a standing start, so we are equipped to help motivated individuals that have made a serious decision to start building wealth.
Basically anyone with either a stable income and some surplus cash or some home equity to borrow against can benefit from the wealth building strategies we recommend. We pay particular attention to the risk characteristics of portfolios, and one of the primary functions of our whole financial planning process is to help clients become aware of the risks involved in personal finance (not all of them come from the stock market alone).
The types of investment strategies we use aren't particularly conventional, we use index funds a lot but often not the common ones the public buy. You rarely see any of the funds I use advertised on television or in the newspaper.
These investments are no higher risk than the larger funds most investors buy, we don't deal with any but the most reputable managers, but broadening the investable universe away from the usual giant mass marketed funds does have great advantages in being able to find funds with low fees and excellent returns.
We do not charge anything for initial interviews, if you would like to talk about the sort of services that we offer, as well as the types of strategies we can implement then just give us a call or email us.
Our services are available to all Australian residents.
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