A long-lost Nigerian Prince has an insurance deal for you!

I hope the subject line got you to open this email, because, this might be one of the better ones I’ve written. I won’t lie, it’s a bit long, but there was so much I had to say in it.

My recommendation is you might want to come back to this email a few times, but it’s a good one.

On that note, let’s get on with it.

I talk a lot in here about strategies you can employ and language to get people to understand what we’re doing or at least trying to do. But, I wanted to spend some time on people.

In particular, high-net worth and ultra high net worth folks, but business owners and self-employed folks might fit in this window. That’s because the lions share of my time is talking about these folks. And, of course the industry runs on this stuff too.

But before you understand them, how they operate, etc. You need to understand the core characteristics of this group.

Sure, they are similar to you and I, but are also quite different (unless you are one of these high net worth folks, and you’ll already know this). So, this message is really all about helping you become that person, should that be a goal of yours.

I should say, these people are all different and distinct in their very own way. But, what they typically all have in common are the following and I call them the Big 5:

1. Complexity

2. Control

3. Connections

4. Capital

5. Charity

Let me break this down a bit so you can understand where I’m coming from.

First off there is complexity. Having more money often means having more complex financial affairs if that’s corporations, trusts, accredited investments, companies, etc. Their life is infinitely more financially complicated than your average employee. And, this also means they typically need someone to understand and help them with this complexity. And, that person can be you!

This also brings up whole a host of issues to maximize their wealth, minimize taxes, but you might be dealing with multiple jurisdictions, the big bad US IRS, cross border complications, assets in other countries, probate, etc, etc, etc.

And, we haven’t even talked about family complexity. Who gets what? How do we treat them all? How to we protect assets from a sour marriage? You get the picture. If you’ve ever seen any type of soap opera, it’s almost always wealthy business owners and their families, you know what I’m saying?

Second we have control. Money and power walk hand in hand in my experience. I have had many a consternating sales meetings with business owners who have told me they care about taxes, etc. But deep down, they didn’t care shit about any of that. They wanted to exert control over their assets and their family by extension. But, that isn’t something you can just go out and say out loud. That’s the quiet part that no one talks about and it’s up to you to figure out all the nitty gritty details. I’d say this often goes hand in hand with complexity, but some people just want to exert maximum control and have created complex arrangements to keep that a reality for their affairs.

In some cases, controlling their family from the grave.

Another element to consider is connections. Many built their wealth based on their connections both personal and business and they prize and protect those like no other. This could be politicians or other business owners or whoever they believe can help them grow.

Another element is clearly capital. They have money, but it’s how they use it. Do they use it to flaunt their success. Think about Donald Trump for a second. He defines his whole brand based on how rich he is. Imagine a poor Donald for a second. That’s not the same guy and clearly not the same ability. What does the capital they own say about who they are.

And finally charity. People use Charity for all sorts of reasons. Sure there are people that want to donate to help the world. But, there are others that want their names blazed on building so people never forget who they are. There is also the tax break angle and of course making large donations to certain causes to expand their network of influence. Suffice to say, charity is a big deal in some circles and how people view it says a lot about them.

What I want to do is build a personality profile based on those 5 big Cs, so that you can identify people who you know and how to deal with them on each of their topics.

There are 9 distinct high-net worth personalities and I’m going to explore each of them in detail:

1. The Family Stewards

2. The Phobic

3. The Independents

4. The Anonymous

5. The Mogul

6. The VIPs

7. The Accumulator

8. The Gambler

9. The Innovator

The Family Steward

I’d say this is the easiest one to spot. They are the one that controls the family and the fortune: they are motivated to protect their family at all costs.

But, this also makes them a great target for financial advice and of course insurance, as they want to protect the assets for the next generation.

But, there is a lot of psychological factors to explore from family dynamics to external factors like the economy and the business climate in general - will the family business survive another generation to is my son’s new wife going to destroy our family?

They are also very controlling and aren’t ready to release control to the next generations, either they don’t believe they can handle it or still feel they are the only ones who can protect the family from the hoard. And, as I mentioned, they need to defend both from internal and external factors.

From a connections point of view, most are family connections and internal business advisors (accountants, lawyers, etc) and can be accessed horizontally (ie. one family member brings you in).

From a capital perspective, their overarching goal is to maintain control over the family enterprise.

And, Charity is interesting for them as they desire to make a better world for their children and they communicate that to them. So, they can be great candidates for charitable giving, so long that is doesn’t wrestle control of the company from the Family Steward.

The Phobic

This one might be the second most common you’ll see, someone who is clearly wealthy, but they don’t want to think about money.

From a control perspective, they feel they are wholly unable to manage their own money and affairs, so they turn to Advisors to help them do that. Which again makes them ideal clients.

While their affairs are complex, it is very difficult to have conversations about it as they don’t understand enough or are overwhelmed. It’s best to deal with their accountant and lawyer for that info.

From a control perspective, they are looking for someone they can trust and can help them with all those decisions. Again, they don’t feel they know enough to make those decisions, so they are looking for someone they can pass that onto, but they need to trust you implicitly.

They typically have deep social connections and might rely on their peers for advice. But, again, they are still hesitant. You can enter that relationship with assertively and assure them, they are safe with you.

From a capital perspective, because they feel like they will make a mistake, they tend to be very conservative with capital. They don’t trust their own instincts or their choices. It might be best to use a more conservative approach with these individuals, which makes insurance a great fit for many.

They might like the idea of charitable giving, but they don’t want to deal with any of the details, so I’d keep it simple and big picture for them.

The Independents

This is an interesting group as their primary objective is to accumulate assets to be financially independent. You might see these people as doctors and dentists or even executives. Some want to retire early to travel or play golf or whatever, but they want to know that they are financially secure.

From a complexity perspective, they tend to be a little less complex. But, they are not as available to talk. They are off working or traveling. So, the limited time you may have with them will make some of the decision a bit more tricky.

From a control perspective, they want to invest in their own personal activities, so it’s less about control over their assets as it is their time.

On a connections side, they seek a few close friends and associates to grow.

Conservation of capital is primary for this group. They want to stop working and enjoy their life. They may have a great career or business, but it is typically a means to an end to enjoy their personal time.

Charitable giving is possible with this group, but it can’t tie up their precious time and of course not effect their financial independence, but if it fits, they’d be open to it.

The Anonymous

There’s a lot of cross over between The Anonymous and The Family Steward, but whereas The Family Steward is all about protecting the family, The Anonymous is about an extreme level of privacy, even if it feels a bit overboard.

The reason for this is they feel that if someone has information over them, they will use it in nefarious ways, get control over their assets or their business.

They tend to have similar levels of complexity, but it’s tough to manage with the client, because they don’t disclose the structures, holdings, assets or any of the other information that we’d typically need.

This goes hand in hand with control, as they want maximum control over privacy. However, this group also appreciates the more private nature of insurance products, generally.

Their network is usually pretty tight and incredible tough to break in, as they distrust pretty much anyone on the outside. Think about organized crime level of privacy and secrecy.

Again, they do care about minimizing taxes, but not at the sake of giving up any privacy or bringing in new outside people.

If they do give to charity, you can bet that it will be anonymously. They don’t want anyone to know anything about what they do. So, if you can assure the privacy, they might be open to it.

The Mogul

This is an interest group and is often a super interesting person. However, their goal is to acquire more assets so that they can exert more power over the people they deal with. They want to leverage wealth and assets for more personal power.

They want to be known and seen and respected.

From a complexity point of view, they’ll be willing to tolerate it, but will require that you recognize their power. They’re the type of people that will show you a building they built and they want you to recognize how impressive it is.

They need the highest control of any one I’ve met. They might bitch about taxes, etc, but if you try to take one ounce of control from them, they’ll end the deal. Because, like I said, you can’t say out loud that I want massive control of my assets so that I can exert that control down on my personal and business relationships.

By extension, their network of connections is focused downwards. They are not trying up in the world and hobnob with other HNWs. They are viewed as an equal in that setting and that angers them more than anything. They want to be the biggest, richest and most successful person in the room. They don’t want to swim in the ocean, they want to swim in the pond where they are king.

They love new opportunities, because they view it as another way to exert more control over a new group of people and or segments.

And they love charitable giving with their name emblazed on buildings. It’s yet another way they can exert control.

The VIPs

While the VIPs might seem similar to the Mogul, the big difference is that The Mogul want to exert personal control over other people, while the VIP wants to accumulate assets and capital to show off their status and prestige.

They will drive fancy cars and post Instagram pics of them partying with Taylor Swift at the Superbowl, because they are important and you are not.

They will purchase all sorts of symbols to show their wealth. They’ll fly private (of course) and may even shop for private jets if they are in that category. They want people to know they are wealthy.

From a complexity point of view, it is all based on public recognition that creates the complexity. This might mean buying lots of assets in different places, because the opportunity came up.

From a control perspective, its mainly focused on their brand, image and persona. They’re willing to trade off taxes and returns to not be viewed a certain way, because image is everything to them.

Their network is focused upwards, opposed to The Mogul where it’s focused downwards. They want to party and associate themselves with other people of high status, as it makes them high status as well.

Not to keep you in suspense, but Donald Trump is a VIP.

Again, they invest in assets where they can show off their status, think Trump Tower here.

Charity can be big for them, as they can show off to a whole new group of people. It’s not about helping the world as it is about how they can use it to further their image and prestige.

The Accumulators

These are your ultra conservative people. They have an overriding fear that they will run out of money and financial security is paramount above all else.

They do not focus on family security or statuses of wealth, instead they focus on accumulating assets against a bulwark of an uncertain future.

They see threats everywhere. Internally and externally, so they keep saving and investing and accumulating. I’d say Warren Buffett might fit in this category, as an example. But, there are countless wealthy people I know that own a massive GIC portfolio, which I think fits squarely in this camp.

They often have vast assets held in all sorts of spots making their finances fairly complex.

They also demand a lot of control over the assets and lots of reporting. Remember, they are scared they are going to lose it all.

They typically have a normal network, nothing special. They see lots of threats, but are open to connecting.

They’re willing to look at new opportunities, but only if their capital is protected. This group would benefit greatly from going through a financial plan to show that they have more than enough assets for retirement if you are going to propose insurance solutions.

Charity isn’t really their bag. I wouldn’t spend much time on it, because they don’t focus on those reason at all.

The Gambler

This is an interesting group, and I’d see them often as maverick business owners, tech entrepreneurs, etc. They view their finances as a challenge.

They are essentially looking for a playmate or partner to believe in their vision and help them along.

They typically need intense communication and quick reaction times.

From a control perspective, they like new ideas that they can test out. They aren’t big control freaks. They believe in a better future, they aren’t scared at all.

From a control perspective, the focus on people who have a shared passion and can grow together. You see this in the entrepreneur community where they all believe in each other and thus connect well. So that means if you believe in them, you can get in.

They are also willing to take all sorts of risks in their investments. This makes this category ideal for such strategies as Split Dollar CI and IFA with life insurance. They love that stuff.

Charity can work if you link it to gains received on a new investment, ie, the gains we get on the insurance portfolio, why not donate some to charity to help out the world. They won’t take from what they need, but if you link it to future results, they might go for that.

The Innovators

These are your tech bros, but could also be engineers, accountants, etc. They are incredibly innovative in their approach, but data oriented. They also believe that if they can crunch the data, they can protect themselves from both internal and external risks.

Overwhelmingly, they are introverts, as you’d expect.

As you can expect, their complexity is on another level. They love Excel, if you know what I mean. Like, they dream about pivot tables, etc. And, they are incredibly technically demanding. So bone up your ACB, CDA, etc language on the insurance side, because they will definitely delve into that.

They will not let you do the planning. They want to see the results, the calcs, etc. You know that 39 page financial report you print out that no one wants to see. They want the detailed output and if you can export it some Excel, they want that too.

Their social network isn’t as big a deal, as they are introverts. They’d rather sit home in the dark, reading, crunching data, not socializing. So they tend to have a concentrated network of other tech bros, etc.

As a side note, I did a large deal a few years ago with one of these folks. We asked for a breakdown of assets and then I got a Excel table that went into the AAAAA columns. I didn’t know those existed. Then, this client even signed up for insurance training and considered getting his insurance license, before giving up and letting us do our job. So, be prepared.

They take more risk than you’d think. They aren’t about conservation of capital, they want returns. But, they want to analyze it all. By the way, these folks love insurance when they can understand how it works. They love numbers, which is one thing we can provide. They love the graphs and the excels and tools. Like I mean, they love them. And, they like aggressive strategies too, as long as they can understand them. Again, these folks are great insurance clients, but they just take time to get there.

From a charitable giving perspective, they love the idea and they love innovative programs. One of the ones I’ve had a lot of success with is the donation of securities directly from the corp. They see that as interesting and unique and saves them a bunch of taxes and helps the charity.

My point to this fairly long email is for you to get to understand who are the people with money and how you’ll have to approach them with these ideas. Each is a bit different and it will take time to identify each group, but read up on these people and how to approach them and you’ll get rewarded for it.

As always, if there’s something that I’ve written that has struck a cord and you want help to grow. Don’t hesitate to reach out.

Until next week,

Andrew