Educate clients about investing

It’s not enough to educate your clients about the products you include in their portfolios. Clients need understand what you’re leaving out. “Next time you meet with clients include education about one investment type you do not offer and why,” says Laura Kogen, vice president of practice management and consulting for Fidelity Investments. Kogen says it is critical to explain to clients why you don’t offer certain products and “why you don’t think they are appropriate.” But why should an advisor spend time explaining investment offerings that they don’t even offer? Kogen says it is better than the alternative. “Better to have your clients learn about these things from you than from someone else who may not have their best interests in mind,” she says.