Wm Client Review

When to use

Reach for this when you are an advisor preparing for a recurring client review (annual, semi-annual, or triggered by a life event) and want a repeatable structure that covers performance, goals, changes in circumstances, and next actions. Use it to build the agenda beforehand and to capture the action list afterward.

Not for: generating the performance statement itself (that is wm-client-report) or the plan document (wm-financial-plan). It does not produce personalized investment or tax advice; it structures the conversation. Route any decision to a licensed advisor and tax questions to a tax professional.

Method

1. Pull the prior review — restate the goals, targets, and open action items from last time so the meeting starts from continuity, not a blank page.
2. Check for life changes — walk a standard discovery list: income, employment, family (marriage, birth, divorce, death), health, liquidity needs, large upcoming expenses, risk-tolerance shifts, estate/beneficiary updates. Decision point: any material change flags a plan revisit rather than a routine review.
3. Review progress to goals — compare where the client is against each goal's trajectory (retirement funding, education, major purchase), in plain terms.
4. Summarize the portfolio at a glance — allocation vs. target, drift, and anything requiring a conversation; hand off specifics to wm-portfolio-rebalance if action is warranted.
5. Frame options, not directives — present trade-offs and let the client decide; note that decisions should be confirmed with a licensed advisor.
6. Capture action items — who does what by when, and set the next review date.

Example

At an annual review the client mentions a parent moved in with them. Weak: skip past it to the returns slide. Strong: "That's a material change — it may affect your cash-flow needs and possibly your estate documents. Let's add a plan revisit: revisit the emergency-fund target and check whether beneficiary and power-of-attorney documents still reflect your intent. I'll flag the estate items for your attorney." The life change reshapes the agenda instead of being noted and forgotten.

Pitfalls

• Leading with performance and never asking what changed in the client's life — the discovery is where the value is.
• Treating the review as a status readout instead of a two-way conversation.
• Recommending specific actions in the meeting without documenting rationale or routing to a licensed advisor.
• Ending with no owner or date on follow-ups, so nothing moves before the next review.

Output format

Client: [name] | Review type: [annual/semi/triggered] | Date:
Since last review: [goals + open actions restated]
Life-change check: [income / family / health / liquidity / risk / estate — changes noted]
Goal progress: [per goal: on/off track, plain language]
Portfolio snapshot: allocation vs. target, drift, discussion flags
Options discussed: [trade-offs, not directives]
Action items: [owner | task | due]
Next review date:
Notes: decisions to be confirmed with a licensed advisor; tax items to a tax professional

Reference

Structured client-discovery frameworks used in the CFP Board practice standards (understanding the client's circumstances). Confirm firm meeting-documentation and suitability requirements.