When life changes, advice relationships matter most

There is a particular kind of client conversation that no financial model fully prepares you for. The client who received a total and permanent disability payout last year. 

The one whose father just passed away, leaving behind a cost base of 79 cents in CSL and a lifetime of unrealised gains. The one whose carefully constructed portfolio construction plan, built and agreed upon just a month ago, needs to be entirely reconsidered because the budget changed everything. 

Nicola Beswick, founder of White Rabbit Advisory, has built her practice around exactly these moments. She brings a perspective that cuts through the technical portfolio construction conversation to something more fundamental: the quality of the relationship is what determines whether advice actually lands when it needs to most. 

In a profession that often defaults to segmenting clients by asset size, Beswick segments by life stage and circumstance instead. It is a model that demands a different kind of depth. 

The plan that was right last month may not be right today

The budget has shifted the advice Beswick is giving in real time. A client who came to her with a total and permanent disability payout, an owner-occupied home and an investment property had a clear plan a month ago. That plan is now being reconsidered entirely in light of proposed changes to capital gains treatment and investment structures. 

“The plan that we originally proposed, maybe a month ago, is very different to what we’re talking about now,” she says. 

The lesson runs deeper than any specific budget measure. Beswick’s practice is built on the understanding that life transitions create moments where everything needs to be reassessed simultaneously. 

The client’s financial position changes. Their risk appetite changes. Their time horizon may change. And for advisers who are not looking close enough to notice those shifts as they happen? They’ll be operating with a structural blind spot, in her view.

Knowing who to call and how

When markets become volatile or major policy changes land, the question Beswick asks is not what to send but who needs what. Her communication approach is built on individual client knowledge rather than a uniform broadcast strategy. 

When asked about the most effective communication method during periods of market distress, her answer cuts through any expectation of a formulaic approach. 

“All of the above. I know the clients that a phone call to, or an email to, will help,” she says. “The clients that I know, a text message will be okay. It really comes down to me having that personal relationship.” 

That philosophy translates into a two-step process in practice. After the budget announcement, she sends a brief mass communication acknowledging the changes and commits to follow up with specific, relevant information for each client individually. 

The message is short and reassuring, not a comprehensive analysis. The personalised follow-up comes after. 

Acknowledge first, personalise second. It is a small operational detail that shapes how clients experience the relationship during moments of genuine uncertainty.

No easy answers

Concentrated legacy positions sit at the intersection of tax, portfolio construction and human emotion, and Beswick navigates them regularly. 

A client whose father held CSL since the float, with a cost base of 79 cents, presents an adviser with a genuinely difficult conversation. The tax liability on exit is significant. The portfolio rationale for continuing to hold may be weak. 

The emotional attachment to the position is real and does not disappear because the numbers suggest otherwise. 

Beswick does not pretend there is a clean solution. 

“Unfortunately, there is no kind of magic wand as to how to eradicate potential gains that are locked in if you were to reduce that. It is just a constant conversation around having that managed risk versus locking in some gains.” 

The continuous conversation is vital to building the client’s understanding and comfort with the trade-off until they are ready to act, not to force a decision. and comfort with the trade-off until they are ready to act, not to force a decision.

The practice problem worth solving

When asked what area she most wants to develop further, Beswick’s answer is immediate: client efficiency. 

Her focus is on communicating better, faster and more effectively, giving clients the experience of having their questions answered without unnecessary delay. 

“It is this person on the other side of the table expecting us to have all the answers,” she says, “and being able to effectively do something for them in a quick pace, because we are so used to instant gratification with anything.”