A ‘wealth manager’ – i mean a person who deals with an individual as an individual and NOT as an employee -is the target of this article. If you are a bank manager this may not be relevant for you.

So as an IFA or a MFD (politically correct word) you meet clients and ask them some questions. Here is a list that you could use. However, do remember, you can do this only after you have established some relationship. Asking in the first meeting is tough for the young IFA.

FIRST ASK YOURSELF….

1. How do I define success?
2. Do I define success for my clients or allow them to define their ‘success’ ?
3. Am I happy with my current success status?
4. If somebody were to give me a cheque of Rs. X will I stop doing this work?
5. Do I have values? Can I list it down?
6. How do I apply my values – in personal life and business life
7. Do I feel gratitude and do I express it often enough?
8. Do I write a Gratitude book? Do I write everyday  in that?
9. Am I happier meeting a rich man or happier meeting a happy man?
10. What is my family’s attitude towards money?
11. Will my family dramatically change the family portfolio if I die?
12. How can I become a better listener?
13. Do I call people JUST TO LISTEN?
14. Do I make notes if I have had a sensible conversation?
15. Do I carry my own notebook when I am attending seminars?
16. Am I happy with the way I treat people I love?
17. Do I make an attempt to keep in touch with people?
18. What stops me from scaling up?
19. As an IFA do I feel underpaid?
20. Am I underpaid with respect to the efforts or wrt past margins?
21. Do I have leadership qualities to run say a 5 member team?
22. Does my team think I am a good leader? Have I ever asked?
23. What scares me the most?
24. Do I have a money scare?
25. Does my asset allocation scare me? Do I understand AA?
26. Have I ring fenced my family wealth?
27. Honest to myself do I have confidence and wealth?
28. What holds me back from hitting real big time?
29. Do I crave for peer/family/social approval?
30. If you are a part of a group – do you give or take?
31. Do I take care of my health?
32. How many friends do I have outside of workplace?
33. Do my friends become my clients or do my clients become my friends?
34. What can I do to improve my self-care?
35. Do you exercise at all?
36. When was the last time you did something that you really like?
37. Are you a victim of media hype?
38. Do you honestly believe that going on a vacation will “mend your problems”?

The list is endless. If you see the questions – the way it is arranged – it combs through your personal and business life. These are tough questions and we need to answer it for yourself. I have at least 100 more questions. It is not important to have them all. It is far more impportant to answer them HONESTLY.

Reading books is great – but if you do not introspect about what you read, what use is it? We bite and swallow much more than what we can chew and assimilate. Over eating has its side effects, right?