With more people working longer and retiring later, many industries are facing new challenges that come with a multigenerational workforce. 

The situation is no different in financial planning, where pre-war Traditionalists (born pre-1945), post-war Baby boomers (born 1945 to 1964), Generation X (born 1965 to 1976), the Millennials (born 1977 to 1995) and the young men and women of Generation Z (born 1996 onwards) are now working side by side. But do different generations within the industry have different skills and abilities? Do they hold different values? Or is age simply a number?

John Redmond, a financial adviser at BHP Wealth, is 26 years old. The firm’s founder, Michael Freedman, is 78 years old. The two, who work closely together, discussed their experience as a cross-generational team.
Working togetherJohn and Michael handle around 100 accounts together. However, each will normally take a lead on different projects, depending on who is most appropriate for the client in question. For example, Michael will often work more closely with older clients who are reaching the later stages of the financial planning cycle, especially those he has advised for a long period. John will often deal with the children or grandchildren of these clients. He explains: “Those clients will need a financial planner for many more years than their parents so it stands to reason that the younger adviser will begin cultivating those relationships.”

Michael agrees: “It gives the younger client greater confidence that the person they are dealing with most is going to be around for as long as they need them.”

Other accounts require them to work more closely together, such as clients who are likely to continue needing financial advice after Michael retires. In these cases, the two will use their individual skillsets to assist them. John notes they have naturally divided up the requirements of these clients accordingly, and that due to the way they deal with them, clients will know who to go to for what. 

He explains: “99% of our clients have a cashflow model which we maintain for them. Our clients know this is an area I now handle and to direct questions around it to me. If they are looking for a spot of advice or an opinion on certain things, perhaps a will, they would be likely to contact Michael. But clients tend to know who to contact due to the relationship we have with them.”

However, this split between accounts handled individually and those worked on together can lead to certain challenges, such as the management of workloads, John adds. “The way we have naturally grown to work together is that Michael is the relationship manager on the names we work with together, but the preparation, follow up and day-to-day requirements are the areas I look after. When I joined Michael I was a paraplanner. I’m still fulfilling that role for those clients and advising where appropriate. But because I often have a long list of things to do, while much of Michael’s role is fulfilled in the two-hour meetings, we have to avoid diary conflicts.”
Setting standardsOne area where their approach doesn’t differ is the six steps of financial planning, which, Michael notes, all advisers adhere to as a principle of good practice. He explains: “The process is such that it can be carried out by anybody of any age with the right qualifications. The qualification is key and I wouldn’t respect John as much as I do if he hadn’t knuckled down to be fully qualified. The steps aren’t handled any differently by either of us and that’s laid down in our processes.”

The six steps of financial planning

1. Establish and define the relationship with the client.

2. Collect the client’s information.

3. Analyse and assess the client’s financial status.

4. Develop the financial planning recommendations and present them to the client.

5. Implement the client’s financial planning recommendations.

6. Review the client’s situation.

Source: Financial Planning Standards Board

John agrees: “We’re giving that same level of service and following that same process for all clients. All our advisers are doing that and it doesn’t change between generations. It doesn’t matter what age you are or what stage in your career you’re at. Ultimately, all your clients should have that full six-step process if we are doing our job as financial planners.”

John adds that the two also work at a similar pace, and that while the desire for quick decision-making is sometimes considered a trait of younger generations, in financial planning that speed is set by the requirements of each individual project. “If a job comes along that needs doing, we both want it done as soon as possible,” he says. 
Digital differencesPerhaps unsurprisingly, the two do take different approaches when it comes to technology. John explains: “Michael can be a technophobe! However, our roles mean I will be the one to do analysis for clients nine times out of ten. So for example, if it comes to analysing their investments or building their cashflow, I’m very familiar with the software. Michael on the other hand is less familiar with it.”

While Michael may not be as adept with certain technologies as John, he has long been an advocate of their implementation. 

“I ran a manufacturing company from 1960 to 1984,” he says. “Between 1969 and 1970, we installed a mainframe computer that filled a room and required a whole host of punch card operators to work. Technology now has superseded that and we can do most of that now with a tablet or smartphone. Anyone we employ is technologically literate but I feel I don’t need to be now.” 

The two also hold different views on meetings, but are in agreement that an appropriate level of formality should be kept. “Both of us are fond of maintaining a regime of face-to-face meetings with clients,” says John. “I would like to be able to take some of our meetings with clients online but there are practical implications that stand in the way of that.”
Foundation of respectMichael and John believe that the key to a positive working relationship, regardless of age, is to recognise each other’s strengths and respect the different ways of working. 

“I’ve learned an awful lot from Michael, such as the optimal way to deal with clients and how to deal with sensitive situations,” says John. “On the other hand, if he needs to deal with an issue around pensions protection and the many regimes that have been introduced over the past ten years, that’s something I can help him with. I think it works pretty well.”

Michael concludes that his early experiences in his own career still affect his approach now, and that this is why a good balance has been achieved between him and John. “My father was the founder of a manufacturing company and there was a terrible intergenerational gap between us. I was a qualified chartered accountant; he was a self-taught business person. He was far more intelligent than me, but he didn’t have the technical knowledge I had. He would turn down my suggestions because he thought he knew better than I did because he’d learned it all before I was even born. My years of strife working with that gap led me to choose not to persist with it. I’d rather treat people as equals.”