You have successfully dedicated yourself to growing your business. It is
thriving and something is prompting you to think longer term. What about your
retirement, your family, your employees and
the preservation of what you have built?
Have your investments been geared to
growth or to preservation? What are the differences?
“Research has shown that the skill set
that creates great wealth is not necessarily
that which maintains and preserves it,”
says Sean McHale, team leader, private
wealth management and senior vice president at SunTrust Bank in Tampa. “Wealth is
created by risk-taking and concentration
on activity. Wealth is preserved by minimizing risk and diversifying activity.”
Smart Business talked with McHale for
more insight on how successful business
owners can shift their mindset to better
preserve what they have created.
What are the first things a business owner
should do in shifting his or her thinking from
growth to preservation?
He or she must move his or her thinking
beyond the day-to-day operations and
growth. The owner must decide that he or
she needs to develop a nonbusiness focus
and consider future and family. Just as the
owner has been successful by setting and
attaining goals for growth, he or she needs
to do the same for maintenance and preservation. It is very easy for the entrepreneur to
see the need for a new piece of equipment.
It is harder to recognize the need for estate
and financial planning, but it requires the
same type of commitment of time and
resources. Business owners need to lay out
what they want to accomplish. They also
need to look at the strengths of family members. Are any of them going to be involved in
the business down the road? If so, how? Are
their talents more geared to growth or
preservation? It’s important to determine
how each party’s talents will be utilized.
I’ve decided that I need to work at wealth
preservation. Now what do I do?
You need to get together with a trusted
adviser who will provide the required guidance to meet your goals. That person should be intent on discovering what your
goals are. The adviser needs to listen carefully. He or she needs to demonstrate
expertise and value your time. You need to
let him or her know what your goals are
and whom they affect. If your goals are
unrealistic or not well developed, that
needs to be discovered. After the adviser
discovers what you want to achieve, he or
she needs to develop a solution that fits
your needs and then deliver on it. The solutions should be based on need rather than
on a particular financial product.
What about the business advisers that I am
already working with?
They are extremely important and their
input is essential to maximum success and
helpful in your growth. You will want your
business to continue to grow and will utilize their assistance in that continued
growth. As you shift some of your thinking
to investments that are going to preserve
and maintain your wealth, it is important to
have an adviser specifically for that area. In
turn, besides listening to your goals, the
adviser can obtain further insight from others, such as your CPA, attorney, senior
business managers and, possibly, even
your insurance adviser. In some cases, your investment adviser will not need to go
outside his or her own team to provide
solutions to your needs, but he or she
should be willing to do whatever is necessary to meet what you have carefully articulated as your needs.
What is the most important piece of information that I can supply to this adviser?
You should determine and tell your adviser the most important unmet goal or objective you have outside of your business.
Then let him or her put together some
plans to meet those goals or objectives that
you can evaluate and decide to implement
if you think they are helpful.
Is this going to be an expensive experience?
Your chosen adviser should be willing to
expend whatever is necessary upfront to
show you that he or she has discovered
your needs by listening, developed a solution that fits your needs and delivered that
solution to you so you can implement it.
Everyone should be looking for a long-term relationship that is going to compensate each party for the long-term results
that were created for you.
SunTrust Private Wealth Management is
a marketing name used by SunTrust
Banks, Inc., and the following affiliates:
Banking and trust products and services
are provided by SunTrust Bank.
Securities, insurance and other investment products and services are offered by
SunTrust Investment Services, Inc., an
SEC registered investment adviser and a
member FINRA and SIPC.
Securities and Insurance Products and
Services:
- Are not FDIC or any other Government Agency Insured
- Are not Bank Guaranteed
- May Lose value
SEAN MCHALE is Wealth Services Team Leader at SunTrust
Bank, SunTrust Investment Services, Inc. in Tampa. Reach him at
(813) 224-2467 or by e-mail at [email protected].