by Michael F. Kay, CFP®
Michael F. Kay, CFP®, is president of Financial Focus, a Registered Investment Advisory firm specializes in providing financial life planning services. A long-time member of FPA, Michael is the author of The Business of Life: An 'Inside-Out' Approach to Building a More Successful Financial Planning Practice.
Just four days after the unprecedented disasters in Japan, a team of 11 Japanese financial representatives from various Japanese based broker-dealers and financial institutions somehow found a way to leave the upheaval at home and fly to New York. Their mission: to gain a clearer understanding of what financial planners are doing in the United States and how they might learn and integrate techniques and ideas into their thinking and business planning.
Michael Kay (standing fifth from right) and the Financial Focus team host the Japanese delegation.
My first interaction with the Japanese occurred in early February when I received an e-mail from Mr. Kentaro Misao, senior consultant with Nomura Research Institute, Ltd., a global management consulting and IT solutions firm for the financial services industry headquartered in Tokyo. Mr. Misao briefly introduced himself, mentioning that he found me through my articles in Forbes and other publications, along with my FPA membership. He requested a meeting and, after I agreed, left the details to Mr. Toshiyuki Chono, the appointed agent for the mission.
From the initial e-mail from Mr. Misao and my continuous interactions with Mr. Chono prior to their trip, I became increasingly interested in the Japanese culture and their distinct ways of doing business. In the United States, business interactions have become very informal, but in Japan, business interactions are maintained on a formal level. Our e-mail greetings always started with a "Dear Mr. Kay" and the body cited the enthusiasm, honor, and gratitude of getting to know one another. And our e-mails were always concluded with a "sincerely yours" or "kindest regards."
As the meeting date drew near, I worked closely with my PR team from Impact Communications and my own staff members to help me prepare to host the Japanese delegation. One of the team members had lived and worked in Japan and shared insights into the culture, etiquette, and protocols.
Learning about Japanese cultural nuances and protocol was an eye-opener. At one point early on, I emailed Mr. Chono about the possibility of arranging for a media presence at the meeting. While he was very gracious and always answered my e-mails, he never acknowledged the media question. It seems that the Japanese believe that turning down someone's request causes embarrassment and loss of face to the other person. If the request cannot be agreed to they are likely to either ignore the request or say "it's under consideration," never directly turning it down. Mr. Chono was most likely ignoring our request for media presence as his polite way of opposing it. Understanding this etiquette, we cancelled our media efforts.
The visit was scheduled for March 15. As soon as I heard about the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, I sent condolences and expressed my concern. He thanked me for my message and, to my surprise, told me that the group was already en route and was looking forward to the visit.
The morning of the meeting, two of my staff members waited in the lobby to welcome the Japanese to our office. We greeted each other with handshakes and small bows and formally exchanged greeting cards, studying each card as it was passed.
I started the meeting with a brief introduction of Financial Focus, introduced my team and talked about how and why we had made the shift from traditional financial planning to financial life planning. We explained that our approach enables us to form better relationships with our clients, building a high level of trust and respect. They were very interested in this as one of the issues they had specifically asked us to address was clients' perspectives in light of the fall of Lehman Brothers, the Madoff scandal, etc.
We then went on to talk about the heart of our process:
- Understanding our clients thoroughly, including their money biography (money behavior), values, dreams, anticipated transitions and financial "musts"
- Using this understanding to create a plan that integrates the quantitative with the qualitative
- Assessing their risk tolerance and matching the results with the return needs of the plan
- Creating a portfolio that is in alignment with the plan
I introduced Dimensional Fund Advisors as our selected investment solution for our clients. They group was particularly interested in the discussion of DFA's academic approach, rules-based asset classes, down-side risk orientation and low cost vs. retail investments.
We reviewed with them some of the Money Quotient® tools we use to uncover clients' money behavior and understand their hopes and dreams. In addition, we introduced them to NaviPlan and Money Guide Pro and showed them the FinaMetrica risk profile questionnaire that we use. Finally we presented several case studies of how our methods have helped clients achieve success and satisfaction.
During the Q&A, there were questions regarding how what we do is different from what large financial services companies (i.e. Merrill) provide for clients. I explained that our philosophy is "high touch," that we are fee-based, and that we adhere to the fiduciary standard. They found this approach especially interesting.
We concluded the meeting with a formal exchange of gifts-a Japanese custom. I presented each one of them with a wrapped copy of my book, The Business of Life. They presented me with a beautifully wrapped box of Japanese treats. As they left our office, they expressed their appreciation and even mentioned how moved they were by our presentation and discussion. Frankly, I believe that I was even more moved and appreciative to have met all of them, given the tragedy that they and their countrymen were facing at home. I hope to stay in contact with my Japanese visitors and look forward to learning more about their way of business.
