Independent financial advice is the key
The best way to safeguard your assets and achieve your objectives with an investment portfolio is to work with an independent financial adviser.
When it comes to managing your financial assets, seeking sound, independent professional advice is just as important as consulting an objective, impartial medical practitioner, says Hobson Wealth managing director Warren Couillault. “While your health is probably the most important factor, the next most significant aspect of your life may be your financial well-being, which centres on both your income and your financial assets,” he says. Locally owned Hobson Wealth Partners (formerly Macquarie Private Wealth) is an investment advisory and wealth-management firm that empowers its clients by tailoring bespoke investment portfolios. Financial assets are often the second-largest asset for many New Zealanders, after their houses. Couillault says that with the introduction of KiwiSaver 10 years ago, a growing retirement-savings population is increasingly aware of the requirement to maintain a long-term financial asset portfolio. For this reason, it’s wise to seek truly independent advice to get your finances into the best shape possible so that you can achieve your objectives over time. “You want someone who can talk about what’s best for you – your circumstances and objectives – and is not simply promoting a product that is to the benefit of the organisation you’re talking to,” he says. This applies to anyone with any size of investment. “You need just as much advice on what to do with your $15,000 KiwiSaver account or $250,000 long-term savings account as you do if you’ve got $3 million to invest. The challenge for our industry, and a big objective of mine, is to find efficient, cost-effective ways of delivering the advice that people deserve, and are entitled to, no matter how much money they’ve got,” he says. The other key element in financial management is independent risk profiling. Only truly independent financial advice will properly highlight all the elements of risk in a portfolio, he says. “When you’re talking about financial objectives, returns are obviously part of the equation. But you also want your adviser to talk about the risk of investing in order to achieve those returns. You don’t want people investing in portfolios that may be too volatile, and the investor wasn’t aware, for example, that the types of investment they were putting their money into could actually go down in value.” Impartiality is the key to getting the best possible advice, says Couillault: “The benefit of our independent service is that we can offer clear, objective, balanced advice and balanced comparisons of alternatives. Our clients’ objectives are at the forefront of everything we do.” Hobson Wealth is named in recognition of New Zealand’s first Governor, Captain William Hobson, and like the early navigator, administrator and visionary, the firm sees itself as quietly shaping futures. If you would like to know more about how Hobson Wealth Partners can help you, please visit www.hobsonwealth.co.nz
“The benefit of our independent service is that we can offer clear, objective, balanced advice and balanced comparisons of alternatives.” – WARREN COUILLAULT