Learning the new norm

Gone are the days when opening an account at a bank or buying an investment were straightforward tasks that took no more than a small effort to fill a single form with your name, address, ID and you’re done.  Today the task requires that you hand over reams of data about yourself, your assets, liabilities, income, expenditure, reasons why you want to invest, your objectives, expectations, source of wealth, source of funds... the list goes on and on. 

The objective for collecting this data is twofold. Firstly it is to allow the service provider to conduct an assessment that both the reasons for your actions and the funds you will be utilising to help achieve your objectives are indeed genuine. Failure to establish this basic yet fundamental fact could land the service provider in very hot water.

The second is then to interpret the data in order to provide you with advice and a course of action that helps you achieve your objectives in a manner that is in line with your willingness and ability to take on risk. The latter part of this is captured in what is called the Suitability Assessment.  It all may sound a little overcomplicated and perhaps convoluted. In some ways it is but...