Supporting your clients into the new year

For many Australians, the new year signifies the time to kick into gear with a new set of goals and resolutions.

Glen Hare, co-founder of advisory firm Fox and Hare, said that he and his team are using this time to set up their clients for success.

“We're sending out an email to all of our members to book in a new year progress meeting,” Mr Hare told ifa.

The purpose of these meetings with clients, which occur in the first three months of the new calendar year, is to have a conversation central to what the clients are hoping 2024 will look like for them, according to Mr Hare.

“It's encouraging them to think about this when they've got some downtime, when they're at home.”

“It's really front of mind, so people are starting to turn their attention to what success looks like in 2024,” Mr Hare continued.

Beyond Fox and Hare’s regular clientele, the firm typically receives a significant number of potential clients who get in touch as the year comes to a close.

“People are kind of reaching out to us now to go, 'okay, we've got a couple of weeks of the year left, are there some smart decisions that I can be making before the end of the year?’”

“So it's quite a busy time of the year for us. Not only are we supporting existing members and rounding out anything from this year and prepping them for the next, but also just in terms of those reaching out, looking for support coming into the end of the year,” Mr Hare added.

However, he drew attention to the fact that Fox and Hare primarily serves a demographic between the ages of 25 and 45.

“The focus for the coming 12 months is very front of mind for them.”

“I think that's different to, I suppose, a traditional firm, where the average age of an advice client is 58.”

While acknowledging that older Australians may certainly have New Year's resolutions, retired clients may be less driven by career and professional goals that are traditionally set out at the cusp of a new year.

“Whereas our members are very keen to kind of go ‘okay, cool, new year, new you’. So November and December are pretty busy for us getting ready for the delivery of those meetings in the new calendar year,” Mr Hare concluded.