A 40-minute watch.

Adrian Murphy is the chief of Murphy Wealth, and here sits down in his office in Glasgow with Lee Robertson to chat through his business and the industry in general, touching on fees, refocusing clients away from investment returns, and delivering on client ‘dreams’.

Murphy points out that some clients have been “educated that it’s all about investment returns”, and that this makes client interactions tough as they respond “worse when returns are on the downside than the upside”.

He adds he finds it enormously rewarding when the penny drops with clients that advice is about lifestyle planning: “It’s not about the money, it’s about me”, adding that clients often feel ‘re-energised’ by this view.

On fees he describes Murphy Wealth’s hybrid between fixed and ad valorem charging, and how he hopes to change this in the future.

In marking out goals with clients, he admits he’s often “guilty of talking about clients’ goals, objectives and dreams as something in the future; but they have dreams today”.

He also finds with clients they can be stumped with what to do after the big event – so when a key objective has been reached. In particular he points to successful businesspeople: “Loss of status is a big thing for people – clients who’ve sold businesses can end up quite depressed.”

Also discussed are Adrian’s view of fees as well as other headwinds facing the industry.